Path of Twinkling Dusk
by Diamond-Raven
Summary: A cont. of 'Path of Shaded Light'. Severus Snape learns how to run a house of Slytherins, tries to deal with the younger versions of Potter, Malfoy and Nott, and later resumes his role as a spy. Part 3 of 3. NOT SLASH. CURRENTLY THIS STORY IS ABANDONED.
1. Chapter 1

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Disclaimer: All characters and references to Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling who created the magical and wonderful world we fanfic writers all love to play in.

Author: Diamond-Raven

Story Rating: R (violence, non-graphic rape, non-graphic sexual situations, torture, drug use, swearing etc.)

Summary: Severus Snape's long journey from an abusive and horrific childhood to Hogwarts,Voldemort and finally, the Order and how he finally found the light in a lifetime of darkness.

**Note**: This is a continuation of '_Path of Glittering Darkness_' and '_Path of Shaded Light_' which must be read before reading this part or else nothing will make sense. Unfortunately, I have too much ground to cover without going back to explain the importance of certain characters and hinting about past events. This is the last part of the trilogy, covering Severus Snape's years at Hogwarts and the second war and how it all ends. Since this trilogy has been in the works for about three years, certain events in canon couldn't be followed (since HBP hadn't come out yet at the time) and obviously, my interpretation of the last book might be way off, but I'm going to do my best to stick to canon and come up with a plausible ending.

'I've always found a fully deployed battle group to be the most effective negotiator.'

- _Andromeda_, 'Point of the Spear'

January 2nd, 1982

Hogwarts School

Gorgon glanced up from the pile of parchment he had just sorted through and caught the yawn Severus tried to hide.

"Gorgy thinking maybe it time to sleep, huh? Get rest before big day?"

Severus shook his head, blinking hard to keep his eyes open but not putting down the papers he was leafing through.

"I can't sleep, elf."

"If not tired enough, take potion. Gorgy goes and gets it."

Gorgon made to get up but Severus waved a hand at him. "I don't want anything."

"Then not put off sleeping any longer!" Gorgon's voice had gone stern and he had crossed his arms.

Myrtle turned over from where she lay on top of the bookshelf in his office and widened her eyes, a grin on her face. "You're in trouble now."

Severus scowled, ignoring Myrtle and not looking at his elf. "We're not ready yet, elf. I have more things to do. Besides, quit treating me like I'm ten. I'll go to bed whenever the hell I want."

Gorgon scowled right back and leaned back in his chair. "We go over everything ten million times! We not even prepare this much for spying missions! We ready, young master."

Severus tossed the papers down and ran his fingers through his hair. "No, we're not. I can't do this, elf. I change my mind."

Fawkes stopped picking at his feathers and glanced at him. "_Why not pack up and run away? You're very good at that by now._"

"Shut the hell up, bird."

"_Oh, don't get your robes in a twist. I was joking_."

"Do you see me laughing?"

"_Quit being such an irritating twit. You're nervous about tomorrow, I understand that. Anybody would be. But we've done harder things that this._"

"Have we really?"

Fawkes rolled his eyes. "_They're just children_."

"They're monsters. Rude, loud, impossible monsters. I should know. I was one of them."

Myrtle burst out laughing. At Severus' glare, she just laughed harder, her glasses nearly slipping down her nose.

"Shut the hell up, Myrtle."

She kept laughing. When Severus grabbed a dictionary sitting on his desk and threw it at her, she let out a scream and covered her head, as if it actually hurt her.

After uncovering her head, she shot him a dirty look and sat up, her legs dangling over the edge of the bookshelf.

"Would you not be so mean? You'll do fine. Everything's ready, isn't it? Everything's prepared."

"I _kno_w that."

"Then why are you being so annoying?"

"I'm annoying?"

"Yes, you are. Gorgon, tell him he's being annoying."

"It not Gorgy's place to get into the middle of such things."

"Excuses, excuses."

While his elf stared defending himself, Severus went back to looking over his lesson plans for the first day and the speech he had written up for his students once they filled the castle again tomorrow. Tomorrow. Merlin, they were going to be here tomorrow.

XXXXXX

If he was going to be truthful, they were ready. They had spent the past two weeks cleaning, arranging, fussing and trying to get the house back into some sort of shape before the Slytherin students came back.

After going through every inch of the common room and finding pounds of drugs and drug paraphernalia hidden in the most unlikely of places, they moved out into the corridors, and from there, the rest of the dungeons. Realizing that there was probably loads more hidden throughout the entire castle, Severus recruited some elves to help him and showed them what to look for and how to think like a teenage drug user trying to hide his stash from adults. After finding an entire pipe stuffed full of heroin in a broken, unused sink in the girls' bathroom on the third floor, Rudy had exclaimed that the students—most likely Slytherins— were most remarkably similar to squirrels in the manner in which they hoarded away their stashes. After raiding the entire castle, Severus was reasonably sure that they had found most of it. After all, he had spent months hiding his own stash from his elf and knew all the tricks there were.

They had taken the entire stash they had found and Severus had coaxed Gabby into helping him get it down to Knockturn Alley. He had gone straight to Xavier, who was still easy to intimidate and Severus had gotten a very good price for the drugs—with Xavier expressing a desire to remain in the 'good graces of the servants of our dearly departed lord'. Severus hadn't bothered to correct him, knowing that his previous employment and status helped get him the best price possible. Gabby had found this enormously entertaining, especially considering the fact that nearly half the stash had been Xavier's drugs in the first place and he had just bought them back at about twice the price he had originally sold them for.

When they had gotten back to the castle, the real cleaning was in order. Severus had gathered all the elves and demanded to know how they could allow the Slytherins to live in such a mess and did they know about the number of rats he had found down there? There had been an uncomfortable silence until Gabby had confessed that certain Slytherins had considered it an entertainment to bounce elves all around the common room, hang them from the ceilings or put all sorts of funny jinxes on them. Rudy had gone to the headmaster to complain, who had tried to enforce the proper treatment of house elves to the Slytherin students, but had only been met by defiance, rudeness or feigned ignorance. Agreeing that the elves had a right not to be treated that way, he allowed them to stay out of the common room. For the past three months, nobody had cleaned anything in the common room.

This became more obvious than ever before when Severus and the elves started cleaning it. Dust, bits of rotting food, newspapers, scraps of parchment, broken quills, random pieces of clothing and heaps upon heaps of cigarette butts and empty bottles covered every available surface in the common room and all the dormitories. After a day of cleaning, Severus declared that he would either make sure the elves weren't mistreated if they agreed to come back and clean the common room, of he would imperio all the students twice a week to get them to clean their own mess.

It was during their cleaning that Severus had his second encounter with Tabitha Coolridge. After their first meeting, she had defied Gorgon's predictions that she would come back to Severus to ask for help with getting the silencing charm lifted. She had instead gone down to the kitchens and cornered one of the elves and stuck a knife to his throat until he finally got the message and removed the charm.

She mainly stayed in her room, leafing through magazines, smoking and listening to her radio at volumes that should have rendered her stone deaf five years ago. Severus had been quite impressed with the little stone which had been charmed to belt out certain songs which it had been charmed with. He didn't know where she had gotten it from, but the magic impressed him enough not to bother her about it.

Severus left her alone, not wanting to bring about another confrontation, but when they had cleaned very available room except for hers, he went and hammered on her door, hoping that she could hear him over the screaming from the radio. Gabby held her ears and Gorgon muttered that he was glad he was getting older and his ears were going rusty. When she refused to open the door, Severus grit his teeth. Deciding that the mature thing to do would be to quietly open the door, he threw that idea out the window. Waving his hand at the door, he watched as it was torn off its hinges and was blasted inwards, slamming into the far wall with a thud that cracked it into four pieces.

Tabitha had sat up on her bed, her face for once filled with panic and not the usual air of boredom and indifference that she favored. She spent one moment looking back and forth between Severus and the door, before she forced her face back into its bored expression and leaned back on her bed.

"What the hell do you want?"

He waved another hand at the small stone sitting on the desk and lowered its volume considerably. "First off, to remind you that when somebody knocks on the door, it usually means that they wish for you to open it, which, if you had any manners whatsoever, you would hasten to do."

She rolled her eyes and leaned back on her bed. "Whatever. Get the fuck out of my room." Reaching down, she grabbed her cigaretttes and lit one with a lighter.

Aware that Gabby was gaping at him and Gorgon was grinning, Severus once again fought the urge to throw up his hands and walk out.

Instead, he flicked his hands and vanished her cigarette, the lighter and the pack of cigarettes on the bed, at the last minute remembering that he was supposed to be using his wand for these things. Sitting up with a jerk, she glared and opened her mouth.

"If you're going to start spouting like a broken sewer pipe again, I'll just put another silencing charm on you, one which I hasten to add no elf will be capable of removing."

She clenched her jaw and stared at him, her eyes filled with loathing and anger. "Give me back my smokes!"

"I told you you're too young to smoke and that these dormitories aren't well ventilated and smoking won't be tolerated indoors from now on."

"I don't care!" Severus noticed that she was keeping her language civil, even if the volume and manner were both off.

"You should. Lung cancer isn't restricted to muggles. Besides, you'll look like you're eighty by the time you're twenty."

"I don't give a damn. I'm not twenty."

"Nor will you ever reach twenty if you keep this up."

"It's none of your business!"

Deciding that it was much too hypocritical to start having debates about drug use with her at this moment, he decided to change topics.

"I need you to clear out of here for a few hours while we clean the dorm."

"You aren't touching any of my stuff!"

"I don't want to touch any of your stuff. I'll just be checking for drugs and cleaning things up a bit. You can't seriously want to live in such a mess anymore."

"I don't care! It's my room! Don't fucking touch anything!"

Once again feeling exhausted and feeling like the conversation was going nowhere, Severus briefly debated what to do. Chances were that she wouldn't willingly get out of her room unless he forced her to, and he didn't want to do that. Nor did he think she would agree to quietly sit by while they rummaged through her things and confiscated all of her drugs and alcohol.

Finally having come up with an idea—not a sane one and not one which the headmaster would probably approve of, but a very Slytherin idea none the less—he glared at her.

"This is your room then, hmm?"

She crossed her arms as she sat up, looking cocky and sure of herself. Severus nearly felt sorry for her but then squashed that. "It sure as hell is."

"Then this is your door, hmm?" He gestured at the broken pieces of the door.

"Yeah. And you busted it so you fix it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Me? But it's not my fault that it broke."

"You busted it! I saw you!"

"Of course I broke it, but only after you refused to get off your rear-end and open the door. Infact, if you would go to class once in a while and learn a simple door opening charm, you wouldn't have to get up or have your door broken down."

Her expression darkened and she glared, looking ready to leap off the bed and attack him. Her hand went to her pocket where she kept her wand but Severus kept still, knowing his reflexes could wipe the floor with hers.

"Fix my fucking door!" she screamed.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so. You want it fixed, you'll have to figure it out yourself."

Turning on his heel, he strode out of the room, not looking back. Once outside, Gabby was looking at him with pity and Gorgon sighed. "That not went good. Not at all."

"You think I don't know that? What the hell else was I supposed to do? I can't let her walk all over me."

"Like Gorgy saying before, it constant war."

"I'm fucking sick of it already."

As they left, Severus quietly sent a sleeping charm towards the room. A few minutes later, he went back and checked and saw that she was sleeping. He spent a few minutes staring at her. Only while sleeping did she really look like a twelve year old girl. Only in sleep did her anger, hate and bad attitude not consume her.

Calling Gorgon and Gabby back in, they started cleaning the dorm. He briefly debated not going through the suitcases thrown into a corner beside her bed with the contents spilling over onto the floor— a mess of clothes, magazines, broken quills and empty bottles.

Deciding that none of her clothes looked like they had been washed in about ten years time, he started going through the piles. Sending the clothes off to be washed, he sorted through the various other stuff in the suitcases. Throwing the garbage into the usual pile in the center of the room, he carefully arranged the rest of her things. He took her magazines and smoothed them out and put them on a desk beside her bed. Reaching the bottom of the suitcase, he found a small, crumpled photograph. He glanced at it, immediately recognizing the woman on it from the facial features she shared with the young girl sleeping on the bed beside him. They were obviously her parents, and from the way the photograph wasn't moving, he guessed that one or both of them were muggles. He also knew from the headmaster that they were both dead and Tabitha spent her summers living in a group home. He smoothed out the picture. He could see fingerprint smudges on it and deep wrinkles and knew that it had been folded and refolded and looked at many times. Glancing at her still form on the bed, he quietly called for Rudy.

"Yes, Master Severus?"

"Would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Of course."

"Would you run down to Hogsmeade and get me a picture frame?"

"Picture frame?"

"Yes. Preferably one to fit this picture."

"Ah, Rudy sees. Would Master Severus prefer unbreakable frame and glass?"

"No need. They're more expensive and I can do the charms by myself."

Rudy nodded and immediately vanished. By the time Severus was done cleaning the room, Rudy was back and Severus went to work. Reporting that he had asked the shop owner for useful charms for getting wrinkles out of the photograph's surface, Rudy demonstrated the charms and the picture smoothed itself out. Vanishing the stains and fingerprints from the photograph, Severus carefully inserted it into the new picture frame. Putting the necessary charms on the frame to keep it from breaking or staining, he put the framed picture on the desk beside her bed, on which he had also put her radio stone.

Pulling out a piece of spare parchment, he thought for a moment and then started writing.

_Since this if YOUR room, you might want to decorate it in such a manner. I've given you a head start. On a sidenote, pictures are not meant to be kept in the bottom of suitcases if they are meant to last. That's what picture frames are for. I suggest getting acquainted with the concept. _

_Signed, _

_Your new head of house_

_PS The door is still your problem. Learn to open them and I won't have to break them. As for how to fix them, try using your head. What magic can do, magic can also undo. That's all the help you're getting._

Re-reading the note, he smirked to himself and left it propped up beside the picture where she would see it. Walking out of the room, he pulled out a list of things he still had to that day. As he walked away, he waved his hand over his shoulder, slowly lifting the sleeping charm from Tabitha.

Next on the list was moving into his new room and office. He was so used to his own room that the thought of a new one seemed unnecessary and a bit frightening. But Gorgon reasoned that their old room was too far away from the Slytherin dormitories, and besides, there was lots more room for books in his new room. After removing all of the hideous decorating Bodin had left in place, Severus surveyed his new rather plain looking rooms. There was a small livingroom with chairs and a low table and quite a few bookshelves. A bedroom and a bathroom lead from the room, both of which were small but were plenty for the two of them. Not wanting to spend any money if they didn't need to, they cleaned and fixed up the ageing furniture which Bodin had left behind. Realizing that he still only had one robe and one cloak—which also happened to have a dark mark insignia hidden on it—they went to a second hand shop in Diagon Alley and bought some cheap extra robes and undergarments. Fascinated by the muggle clothing he saw in the piles in the store, Severus tried on some jeans and a few shirts. Enjoying how much less restricting these clothes made him feel, he bought some and hid them in his closet, not wanting anybody to make a fuss out of him buying muggle clothes. They were clothes, that's all. While they were arranging things in the closet, Severus was surprised to discover a beautiful brand new black cloak hanging on one of the hangers. Seeing the Slytherin insignia on it, he guessed it was his teaching cloak. He made a mental note to go up and thank the headmaster as soon as they were done. That presented the problem of what to do with his Death Eater clothes. He had thrown his old robe out, the stains and tears on it now impossible to get rid of, but he knew he should keep the other things, none of them knowing what the future would hold. He put his cloak, the silver rope, his gloves and his mask in a small box and hid it beneath the floor of his old room, feeling like he was really tucking away the past few years of his life.

Gorgon also brought up the few books they had left behind before they had left for the dark manor and neatly arranged them on the large, empty bookshelves which sat in the living room. Severus nearly wept at the thought of all the books which were still in the dark manor, many of which had undoubtly been ruined in the collapse but many of which had to have survived intact and now lay hidden somewhere, magic keeping them concealed. Master's entire library, his own collection of books and the books he had kept in the workshop were all invaluable, rare tomes. Rather than dwell on this, he went browsing through Knockturn Alley, rummaging through dark, musty little shops filled with various odds and ends, their owners grubbing through the garbage for anything that looked like it could be something and then sticking it on a shelf. To his surprise—and disgust—people threw away books by the bucketfuls. He found entire sets of volumes of books and old classical books which could have sold for hundreds of Galleons. After going through every store which had books in them, Severus and Gorgon were once more on their way to having their bookshelves filled with books. Both of them felt quite proud of having saved so many precious volumes from near destruction.

Gorgon had suggested putting the potions orientated texts in his office, but Severus shied away from it, knowing that there were going to be reckless children in that room far more often than in this one. He wasn't going to put any books in harms way if he could help it.

He pushed aside the problem of decorating his office, knowing he could deal with that later.

The classroom was in surprisingly good shape, but the storeroom was another matter. There were a few unwashed cauldrons sitting in the corners and buckets of rotting eels and dusty spiders on the shelves. Throwing them out immediately, Severus sat down and wrote a ten page list of ingredients he knew the students would require and things he would require. At the bottom, he wrote down that he wanted it all delivered within two months at the most and that the supplier knew what quality he expected and what price he was willing to pay. At the top of the list, he drew a dark mark, knowing even the tiniest details from memory alone. Vanishing it into the paper, he spelled it so it would show up as soon as the paper was touched. Rolling up the list, he handed it to Fawkes and asked him to drop it into Xavier's lap without being seen. Loving the thought of scaring the daylights out of the fat contraband dealer, Fawkes took off without a complaint.

In the last two days before the students were due to come back and flood the dungeons, he sat down with Gorgon and started going through the syllabus. The minute he saw that giggling potions were still on the second year curriculum, he marched up to the headmaster's office and declared that he wasn't teaching anybody how to make giggling potions. It was a useless waste of time and the potion didn't involve any new skills or concepts that would make it educational.

His eyes twinkling, the headmaster had cautiously agreed that he could take a few things out of the curriculum and could redesign certain aspects, but that he should keep in mind that he had to keep the ministry happy and that he was teaching children, not Potions assistants.

Going back down, Severus and Gorgon stayed up all night piecing together things from the old syllabus and adding in potions and skills they had been using to teach the Potions Assistants and train the initiates. After a lot of shuffling, he finally had good, practical syllabuses on hand, in which he had condensed first and second year material into first year, moved everything over and redid the curriculums for NEWT classes entirely. The level of difficulty for the NEWT classes had been ridiculous and Severus couldn't believe they had been allowing kids to graduate with those skills alone. When Gorgon expressed some concern over the level of difficulty and speed in the earlier years, Severus had waved it aside. If they were good, they'd be able to keep up, if not, it was the perfect way of getting them out of his classes before the really interesting research projects of the upper years were tried. He had never been a slacker in class and had always kept up and knew that it wasn't unreasonable to expect the same from others. Gorgon had again tried to point out that Severus was extremely intelligent and loved to learn and had a natural talent where potions were concerned, but he was again silenced. Severus would teach them everything they needed to know and if they kept up on their own, they'd do well.

Professor McGonagall had looked over his revised syllabus and to his surprise had nodded, agreeing that the level of difficulty in potions had been severly lacking in recent years and that it was about time people started treating it like the difficult discipline it really was. After hammering out three months worth of lesson plans, they fell into bed, knowing that they had two more days to get things perfect before the monsters moved back in.

XXXXXX

Now they only had seven hours until the train came back. Rather than dwell on the fear welling up inside of him and the desire to rush up to the headmaster's office and tell him that thank you, he had changed his mind and would write to him from Argentina, he spent the hours feverishly going over his lesson plans and scribbling in things and scratching them out again.

He wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight anyway, even if he tried. Tabitha had taken to spending more time in the common room now that it was clean enough to sit in and didn't feel like bringing her radio down with her. In order to fix the problem, she had turned up the volume loud enough to vibrate every piece of furniture in the room and rattle the stair railings. Rather than deal with her, Severus let the music keep him awake, and found to his surprise that he was getting rather used to it and enjoyed listening to something other than silence while working. After all, he was still a teenager in some ways.


	2. Chapter 2

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 2

Author's Note: I'm so terribly sorry about the delay! Exam time is a terrible time for us all. Now that exams have slowed down, I'm thrilled to announce I'll be writing full steam again. I have to admit, I'm having so much fun with our Slytherins! Thank you for all the kind reviews and I'm thrilled you've all jumped into this last part with the same enthusiasm as I have. I hope you enjoy these next two chapters!

'Within the perfect architecture of thought, logic may often provide the structure, but from emotion comes inspiration.'

- _Andromeda_, 'A Symmetry of Imperfection'

Jan. 3rd, 1981

Hogwarts School

The chattering of students drifted through his shut door, loud yells, laughter and more profanity than even Evans used to use on her bad days. He waited until half an hour before dinner before deciding to address the house.

He glanced down at the things he had scribbled on a piece of paper and realized he still had no idea how to go about this. What if they wouldn't shut up? What if they laughed at him?

Gently fingering the medallion around his neck, he decided he still had some time and quietly called for the founder of his house.

The medallion grew hot and the misty pale essence of Salazar Slytherin drifted out of it and swirled into the shape of the long deceased founder. As soon as he saw who had called him, he narrowed his eyes briefly.

"The cloak is a bit too wide on the shoulders."

"Thank you, Mr. Slytherin but I didn't call you up to comment on my clothes."

"You can't expect to make them think you're suited for this position if your clothes don't even fit you."

Staring at the founder for a moment, Severus admitted that he was right, and immediately Gorgon started fussing with the cloak, adjusting the hems and the shoulders and who knew what else.

"Well, what else do you want?"

"How do I make them listen to me?"

Salazar snorted. "How did you make the little sadists in training listen to you?"

"I already had a position of respect and they knew I was close to the Dark Lord before they even stepped foot into the room."

"And you think you have nothing here to back you up?"

"Precisely."

"Stupid boy, use your head!"

Severus found himself getting irritated with the founder, as usual. "Either help me or go back to wherever you sit around when you're not here."

Salazar sighed and then spoke slowly as if speaking to a child. "The potions assistants listened to you because they knew you owned a good chunk of that place and you were someone important. What you have to do is act the same way here."

"But I don't have anything here."

"You know that, boy, but they don't! Act like you own the common room and everything in it and that you really are one of the masters of this school and they'll believe it."

"And what if they don't?"

"You'll just have to find a way to bluff your way through it, won't you? Now, go deal with the brats and leave me alone."

Disappearing in a swirl of fog, the mist streamed back into the medallion and it cooled instantly, becoming nothing more than a piece of metal around his neck.

Severus gently touched it, knowing what he had to do now. Just like dealing with Tabitha, he couldn't let them control the situation. And more than that, he had to act as if there wasn't any situation for them to own in the first place and he already owned it. Bluffing, that was what Salazar had said. Alright, he could do this. Somehow.

Gorgon finally stepped back. "Alright, cloak is good now. Was Master Salazar words good?"

"They always are, elf," he muttered. Smoothing out the cloak, he took a deep breath and headed for the door. "Wish me luck. If I'm not back in twenty minutes, come and drag my body out of the common room."

His elf snorted. "Young master doing fine."

"Yeah, sure."

Squaring his shoulders, he opened his door and strode down the corridor. He lengthened his stride and walked with determination in his step, trying to act as if he owned the corridor and everything in it.

If this didn't work, his elf and him still had plenty of time to sneak off to Knockturn Alley before anybody noticed they were gone.

He reached the end of the corridor and gently touched the stone wall. The snakes slithered out of the way and he strode through the open doorway. A blast of noise hit him as he found himself standing amongst dozens of chattering, laughing teenagers. He stood in the doorway for a moment, looking around. Just as he had suspected, most of them hadn't bothered bringing their luggage up to their dormatories and had left them sprawled on the floor where the elves had left them. Some of them were already lounging on the newly cleaned couches, drinking and smoking and Tabitha's damn radio stone was blaring loudly from her room. It took him a moment to locate her amid the mess and haze of cigarette smoke already permeating the common room.

He still had time to back out of this. All he had to do was step back out the door and he and Gorgon could be gone in ten minutes time.

The minute the thought was fully formed in his head, he discarded it. The headmaster had pulled in a lot of favors and made quite a few enemies out of long time friends by giving him this second chance at a life outside of Azkaban. Running away would be a fine way to repay him.

Having decided that, he pulled out his wand and flicked it in the direction of the radio, lowering its volume. That didn't do anything to lower the loud voices in the room, in fact, one or two people glanced up at the stairs and swore, obviously thinking the radio was malfunctioning.

He momentarily debated yelling at them to shut up, but yelling had never been his strong point. Besides, he didn't want to end up in a screaming match against hundreds of Slytherins. So he made a sweeping motion with his wand and silenced all of them.

The sudden silence was astounding.

What was even better was seeing the confusion on the faces of the chatters, who were suddenly mouthing soundlessly at their friends.

Tabitha had sat up with a jerk and was glaring around the room until she saw him. Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and slammed herself back into her seat. He smirked at her and then continued waiting.

After a few moments, the brighter ones in the room seemed to have realized that they had been jinxed and were looking around for the source of the magic. After a few eyes had settled onto him, they nudged their neighbors and nodded their chins at him. After a few more minutes, the entire room was looking at him, some with awe, some with confusion, and most with bored smirks.

"My name is Professor Snape and as I am sure you haven't noticed that your previous head of house has departed, allow me to also introduce myself as your new head of house and potions professor."

Tabitha rolled her eyes and many in the room narrowed their eyes and stuck their chins out, and even more smirked coldly, obviously thinking that whatever fun they had had with Bodin would be nothing compared to a younger head.

"As I am sure Mister Bodin hasn't informed you, I will remind you that whenever your head of house enters a room, I expect you to shut your mouths, stop what you're doing and pay attention. If not, I will simply make you all shut your mouths and stop what you're doing. It takes little effort on my part."

He glared at the smirks and lifted chins around him and was pleased to see that some of them at least seemed a bit cowed and taken aback.

"If any of you have any sensory receptors left which haven't been melted by too much cocaine, you will notice that I have spend the past few weeks cleaning this entire common room and your dormitories. I have been informed that you all consider elves to be your personal amusement exhibits and have made it impossible for them to do their jobs. From now on, you will leave the elves alone and not address them except to politely make requests. If I am told that the elves have been mistreated in any way—and believe me, I will be told—I will allow them to make a wide berth around this dormitory again and you will all be doing your own cleaning." He smirked as he saw the incredulous looks and eye rolling. "And believe me, I will not make it optional. Once again, it will take little effort on my part. You will either allow the elves to do the cleaning or you will do the cleaning, either way, this dormitory will remain clean. It is unhealthy to live amongst rat droppings, moldy food and mounds of insects. On that note—" He flicked his wand at every smoker in the room and Vanished their cigarettes. "—from today, there will be no smoking in-doors. If you wish you to ruin your health and smoke outside, be my guests. I couldn't care less if you look like a hundred twenty year old hag with no teeth, rotting gums and a constant hacking cough by the time you're twenty. Now, once we are finished here, many of you will be in the mood to do a few lines or do a few pinches. I have gone through every inch of this castle and have confiscated every tiny bit of any drug I have found. Drugs have never been tolerated in this castle and never will be. If you insist on going out and buying a new stash, be forewarned that I am well acquainted with the majority of drug dealers in England and will be told about any purchases. Furthermore, if I catch anybody doing, hiding or selling drugs, they will be punished."

He was pleased to see even more of them biting their lips and casting worried looks at their neighbors, but most, like Tabitha were sitting there, pretending to be asleep, smirking rudely or picking threads out of the couches they were sitting on with their eyebrows raised high. He didn't reprimand them, knowing that despite their attitude, they were all listening and were silently weighing their options in their heads.

He glanced at the clock above the mantle and saw that dinner had started a few minutes ago.

"Now, I believe it's time for dinner." Moving over slightly, he jerked his head towards the door and lifted an eyebrow.

None of them moved. He knew they were waiting for him to lift the silencing charm on them, but he saw no need to. He knew that as soon as he lifted it, they would all start yelling and whispering amongst each other about how many ways they could kill him in his sleep before tomorrow morning. He wanted to avoid that, and besides, they didn't need to talk in order to eat.

"Unless you'd like to go hungry?"

There was a slight shuffle as some people got up and slowly meandered towards the door. He raised his eyebrow at the others. "I believe I forgot to mention that the elves will not be bullied into bringing midnight snacks from the kitchens anymore. They cook three times a day and don't need to be making every single one of you your own meals whenever you feel hungry. This isn't a hotel in case some of you forgot."

About half of them had shuffled out the door and started the journey up to the great hall. The other half still sat there, smirks on their hard faces, looking like they'd bitten into sour lemons. He glanced over them one last time. "This is your last chance."

Tabitha was the only one to respond. She flipped her middle finger at him and smirked. He smirked back at her and flicked his wand at her, making her middle finger invisible.

He didn't wait for her expression of shock to turn into outrage but instead, swept out of the common room, locking it behind him. He didn't need them running rampant all over the castle while he wasn't around.

He knew the common room would probably be a mess by the time he came back but he didn't want to force them to go to dinner if they didn't want to. Images of plates being thrown at other students filled his head and he didn't want to make their private Slytherin battles public.

As he trailed after the students climbing the stairs, he felt a small tug on his robe and glanced down. A tiny first year girl was looking up at him with huge eyes, looking ready to run away at a flick of his finger.

He raised an eyebrow at her. She motioned at her throat and he removed the charm from her.

"Sir, Master Professor—"

Hearing that word coming from her mouth made him pale and he was quick to cut her off. "Professor Snape will suffice. I'm not your master. Nobody is."

"Yes sir, Professor. May I wash my hands before we go eat? I was eating a chocolate frog on the train and I got a bit messy."

He glanced at her hands and saw the chocolate coated mess. "Why on earth would you have to go anywhere to wash your hands?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're a witch, Ms…"

"Emma. Emma Treagle."

"Ms. Treagle. Watch."

Taking out his wand, he moved it over her hands, at the last minute remembering to say the cleansing charm outloud. It had been a while since he had done any verbal magic.

She stared at her hands with wide eyes, obviously very impressed.

"What was it again, sir?"

He told her the incantation. "Write it down. Study it. Memorize it and practice it. You'll never have to run to a washroom to wash your hands again."

She grinned and ran up to the front of the line to show her friends. Deciding that Emma's concern was a good one, he flicked his wand to stop the people at the front of the line. Like a chain reaction, everybody bumped into the people in front of them until they had all stopped.

"Hands out." Some people immediately held out their hands but others kept their arms crossed. Severus didn't care as he walked down the line, flicked his wand at each set of hands and cleaning them and wiping smudges off faces and straightening robes. When he reached the first of the ones who kept their arms firmly folded, he raised an eyebrow at him.

"Doing this charm is only effective if it is directed at the area that needs to be cleaned. If you keep your hands like that, I'll have to send the charm all over you. It tends to leave one quite….soggy."

He smirked at him and found two more hands ready for the charm. The others were quick to follow.

After deciding that they were as presentable as he could make them, he strode to the front of the line and pushed open the door to the great hall and walked in, the others at his heels.

He was about to go and sit at the Slytherin table when he remembered that he was supposed to sit at the teacher's table now. Making as smooth of a turn as possible, he went up to the teachers table. For a moment, he remembered how he had sat up here on his very first day at Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey had given him something for his nausea and he had hidden scraps of food for Gorgon before being informed by the headmaster that his elf would be fed in the kitchens. What he remembered most was not getting into trouble for hiding the scraps. He was momentarily lost in his memories until he heard the headmaster's cheerful voice.

"Ah, there you are, Severus. Please, come and sit down."

Severus glanced along the rows of seats and was surprised to see an empty chair right beside the headmaster.

"Is this—?"

"Of course, my dear."

As if to emphasize the point, the headmaster pulled his chair out. Severus sat down, his stomach doing flipflops as the other teachers stared at him. He glanced at the faces and found that he only saw two strangers. He also noticed that Palani and Krupnit were gone. Professor Sprout was still looking at him coldly and whispered something to Hooch on her other side. Professor Sinistra was openly glaring at him and Professor Vector was staring into her plate and hadn't even looked up, obviously not having decided whose side she was on. Severus found himself not really caring about their attitude, and besides, Flitwick and Hagrid were beaming at him and Minerva gave him a nod from where she sat on the headmaster's other side.

Severus quickly lost interest in his collegues whispers and stares and instead watched his Slytherins walking through the hall to their table. He hid his grin as he saw the expressions on the other students faces as they saw the clean, silent group going to their own table and sitting down. Emma was the only one who wasn't charmed to stay silent, but she was obviously taking this seriously and was keeping her mouth shut.

The fact that only magic made them clean and silent was a little fact that Severus would keep to himself. It wasn't any of the other houses business how he dealt with his own house.

Once they were seated, Dumbledore stood up and beamed at them all. "If I could interupt your meal for a few minutes, I would like to take this opportunity to say that unfortunately Professor Bodin decided to leave us at the beginning of winter break. However, I am very pleased to announce that we have a new Head of Slytherin house and potions professor. May I introduce; Professor Severus Snape."

There was very little applause as all of the Slytherins were staring into their plates and the others were staring at him, either with horror—they obviously kept up to date with their newspapers—or amazement—probably due to his age.

He glanced at them all and gave them a short nod, feeling uncomfortable. He had always despised being the center of attention.

After the headmaster said a few words—mostly rubbish about how he was sure Severus would do his best to keep their heads nice and empty and make potions entertaining—he sat back down and resumed eating.

Severus stabbed a carrot with his fork and chewed on it, staring at the students below him. He had never realized what a fantastic seating arrangement this was. None of the students had all the teachers in their direct sight but all of the teachers could see every single student at a single glance.

It was only because of this brilliant seating arrangement that Severus noticed it.

A small Slytherin boy had gotten up and was walking down the table to grab a dish of something, not able to ask for it to be passed down because of the charm.

After he grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes, he turned around and started walking back down towards his seat. Out of nowhere, one of the Hufflepuffs from the adjacent table stuck his foot out and sent the first year sprawling, the bowl flying from his hands and smashing on to the floor. He landed right ontop of the shards of the broken bowl and a sea of mashed potatoes. Immediately, the entire hall erupted into loud laughter and cheers. The little Slytherin picked himself up and wiped his face with his sleeve. Severus hardly noticed how even some of the teachers were smirking and that none of them had made a single move to reprimanding the Hufflepuff. What he did notice was that none of the Slytherins had made any response whatsoever. They continued eating, some of them looking bored and others making hand motions at their neighbors to pass them something. Not one of them had stopped to help their fellow Slytherin and not one of them had stood up for him.

The little Slytherin had sat back down and sat hunched over, his hands tightly grasping the bench on either side of himself, his head down. None of his neighbors even glanced at him, not even offering him a tissue to wipe himself with.

Severus felt that familiar ball of anger and utter humiliation curling inside of his stomach. He knew exactly how that little boy was feeling right now. He probably wanted nothing more than to run out of the hall, lock himself away and cry and never come back out.

Well, Severus wasn't a little kid anymore and nobody picked on him without him giving it back just as good as he got. Since he was head of house now, that responsibility extended to his Slytherins too.

Extending his fork so that his fingers were pointing at the still laughing Hufflepuff who had tripped his Slytherin, he abruptly yanked him off the bench, flipped him mid air and let him fall with a thud onto the floor. The boy had given a surprised shout and some of the students screamed, but as soon as he had landed, a stunned silence enveloped the room.

Guessing that his message hadn't been clear, Severus lifted a bowl of mashed potatos from the Slytherin table and gently floated it through the air until it was hanging right above the sprawled form of the Hufflepuff, who gaped up at it. Severus tilted the bowl slightly until the yellow mush inside was edging dangerously close to the edge.

The Hufflepuff's eyes were huge as he stared up at the bowl. His eyes darted to the side at the Slytherin boy, who had turned around and was also staring at the bowl and the Hufflepuff with huge eyes. Obviously thinking that the tiny first year had somehow managed to lift him up, flip him over and was now dangling a bowl above his head using nonverbal and wandless magic, the Hufflepuff started shaking.

"I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry! Just don't do it, please! I just washed this bloody robe! Please! I said I was sorry, alright! I won't do it again!"

Deciding that the apology was acceptable, Severus floated the bowl back to the table and let the Hufflepuff clamber to his feet.

Every single eye in the room was focused on the tiny Slytherin. When he noticed that everyone was staring at him, he blinked a few times and then did exactly as Severus had hoped he would. He smirked coldly at them all and raised a challenging eyebrow. Lifting his chin, he turned back to the table and went back to eating. He was suddenly sitting up straighter and the other Slytherins were smirking in satisfaction, although quite a few of them shot suspicious looks up at their head of house. But none of them were stupid enough to call him on it or to look surprised for very long. They were Slytherins after all.

Severus kept the smirk off his face and resumed eating, trying to look impressed with his little powerful Slytherin.

After a few more minutes of dumbfounded gaping, the teachers and students finally started finding their mouths with their forks again and the clink of cutlery filled the hall once more.

The headmaster leaned forward, pretending to be reaching for the salt on Severus' other side.

"Well done, my boy. I told you you'd figure it out," he murmured under his breath.

Severus hid his smile behind a napkin and kept eating, keeping a careful eye on all four house tables.

XXXXXX

The common room wasn't as big of a mess as he had thought it would be. Most of the students were still where he had left them, although half of them were smoking again. He Vanished their cigarettes and then looked at the sea of half open suitcases which lay thrown all around, their contents already spilling across the floor.

"Are you all intending on living down here for the term?"

He got confused frowns, glares and bored looks in response to his question. None of them got up to gather up their things and after waiting another moment, Severus flicked his wand and sent two of the suitcases flying into the fireplace. Picking up a few more, he sent them hurling into the fireplace as well, clothes flying out of them along the way.

The Slytherins sat, staring at him as if he was nuts. Some of them made a vague effort to grab their things, but most of them were too stunned to do anything.

When everything was stuffed into the fireplace, Severus faced the room once more.

"Since none of you seem to care about putting your belongings in the proper place and taking care of them properly, I assume you won't miss them when they're gone."

With a flick of his wrist, he threw a shielded fireball onto the pile of suitcases. The fake fire engulfed the pile and quickly spread, covering every shred of fabric with bright flames that really looked like a burning fire.

Outrage flew across many faces as the owners of the suitcases leapt to their feet, looking ready to jump at him. The others—the majority of the ones who had gone to dinner with him—had leapt back and were staring at each other wide eyed, obviously not knowing what to think.

Severus cocked an eyebrow at them. If they would only go to class and learn then they would all notice that the color and patterns of the flames clearly showed that it was a magical fire and not a real fire.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want your things?"

Rage covered the faces of the ones whose belongings were sitting in the fire and even a few faces had tears on them.

Deciding that they had had enough, he flicked his wand and immediately, the fire vanished and the suitcases all flew back out, landing in neat rows, completely unharmed.

All of them were gaping at him.

"As I said before, the common room is not the place to keep your things. It is also not someone else's job to carry your junk around for you. You will bring your belongings upstairs and store them neatly and keep them that way or the next time I throw them into a fireplace, I will really burn them."

He took a moment to look at them and then glanced up at the clock. "At ten o'clock I want everyone getting ready for bed and half an hour after that, I will turn the lights off."

Making a sweeping motion with his wand, he lifted the silencing charm from them.

He was about to leave the common room when he saw the first few grab their suitcases and start struggling across the floor with it, grunting and swearing under their breath the whole way.

He raised an eyebrow, amazed to see even some of the older students struggling with their suitcases while their wands were holding up their hair or tucked into their pockets.

Striding back to where one of Tabitha's friends was pulling her suitcase across the floor while Tabitha laughed at her from a nearby chair, he stood over her until she noticed.

"What?" she spat, glaring up at him.

"Are you a squib, Ms…?"

She narrowed her eyes. "It's Serina Rigel and no."

For one minute, his stomach lurched. Rigel. She had to be Capella Rigel's younger sister. For a moment, images of Capella' still, pale body lying on the blood soaked bed with her throat slit and her left hand cut off flew through his mind before he shook them away. The war was over. None of these kids would be seduced into that life anymore. Struggling, he forced himself back to the conversation at hand.

"Funny. I would have assumed you had no magical capability whatsoever."

"Why?" she tried to sound nonchalent but she sounded a bit insulted.

"I've never seen someone who isn't a first year in their first week of school struggle with anything heavy. I believe that first week is when you're taught how to deal with heavy objects, after that, the only excuse I could think of why you wouldn't be using what you were taught is stupidity, very bad memory, or that you're a squib. I was assuming that you weren't either of the first two, but obviously I was mistaken."

"I never went to any stupid first year classes."

"I see. Just in case you learned something useful, hm? We wouldn't want that to happen, would we?"

He turned to everyone else. "Who here has the miniscule brain required to remember what the charm used to lift objects is?"

He heard mutters around himself but nobody actually said anything or lifted a hand. He spied Emma Treagle in the back mouthing something to her friend which looked like 'Wingardium'.

"Ms. Treagle?"

She stared at him, her eyes huge. "Yes sir, Professor?"

"What were you saying to your friend just now?"

"Uhm, Wingardium Leviosa, sir?"

"So someone around here does have a brain. Very good, Ms. Treagle. You might not be as useless of a lump as everyone else around here."

Flicking his wand, he said the incantation and watched as Serina's suitcase floated upwards. She had leaned back, watching and was clearly expecting him to sent her suitcase all the way up the stairs, but Severus abruptly cut off the charm and sent the suitcase slamming back onto the floor.

"Now that everyone knows the charm and seeing how everyone has a wand, nobody should have a problem getting their things upstairs. I will be back at ten."

Without looking back, he strode out of the common room, the crowd of students parting before him.

Reaching his office, he threw himself into his chair. Gorgon immediately looked up from the book he was leafing through.

"How it go?"

"They hate me but it looks like some of them are salvagable. And none of them use magic for even the most basic things."

Gorgon smiled. "That we fix later. When is bedtime?"

"Probably never. I'm going to try and turn lights off at ten thirty but they'll probably be back on the minute I'm out the door."

Gorgon laughed. "That how life with teenagers usually is."

Severus scowled, not knowing what the hell was so funny about the situation.


	3. Chapter 3

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 3

'The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.'

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jan. 4th, 1982

Hogwarts School

"Elf, get me more Pepper-Up potion."

"Already had two doses."

"Do you want me falling asleep in my cauldron?"

"Fine. One more."

Severus glanced at the clock in his office. Half past eight. He had missed breakfast, but so had the majority of his house. The previous night had been a disaster. At ten o'clock he had gone in and warned everyone to get upstairs and brush their teeth and get changed and ready for bed. He had gone back half an hour later and some of them had gone up and gotten changed and ready for bed, but the majority were still sitting lounging on the couches, talking and laughing, looking like they didn't have the slightest intentions at going to bed. Regardless, he had extinguished all the lights and left them there, hoping that they would get sick of being in the dark and go to bed.

Ten minutes later, he was back to see the lights all on and them still chattering. He extinguised the lights with a charm he knew they couldn't break and left again, only to return ten minutes later to find that they had all moved up to one of the dormitories and had turned the radio back on. They were jumping all over the beds, laughing, spraying beer everywhere and shouting loud enough to wake the centaurs in the forest.

He had silenced them and told them to get to bed in the next thirty seconds. Tabitha had smirked at him from where she lay sprawled out on her bed, her head in a sixth year boy's lap who laughed silently. Serina had given him the finger and mouthed some choice words at him. For the first time all day, he felt like yelling and cursing them all into pieces. He knew he couldn't leave them like this or else they would think they had won. He vanished their bottles and yanked the sixth year off the bed and out the door, telling him that either he could walk himself to his dormitories or Severus would throw him across the hall and do it for him.

After turning the lights off and leaving the silencing charm on them, he slammed the door and left, knowing he would be back soon.

Ten minutes later, he opened Tabitha's dorm room to find it empty. Swearing under his breath, he decided that tomorrow morning, he was resigning and going to Argentina. He got his elf and Myrtle and yelled for Fawkes and they spread out to find the missing Slytherins. They searched the bathrooms, the library—although Severus doubted they would really be in there—the kitchens and the entire dungeons but didn't find them.

Deciding to do the sensible thing, Severus grabbed some of Tabitha's clothes, charmed them to fit a 'Point Me' spell and then followed the zooming ball of light as it raced through dark corridors. Fawkes and him raced up winding staircases and down hallways—at one point nearly stepping on a very surprised Mrs. Norris— until they ended up in the Astronomy towers. Gasping for breath, Severus knew at once where they were and he vanished the ball of light. Climbing onto the windowsill, he ignored the phoenix's warnings to be careful and lowered himself onto the ledge below it. Balancing along it, he crept along the rooftop. In the distance, he saw glows of cigarette butts and the clink of bottles and the dark outlines of about six people. He pushed the thought out of his head that he was about to punish some students for doing what he and Evans had done for years. Memories of sitting on this rooftop with Evans, Fawkes and Myrtle and helping Evans lift up a case of butterbeer threatened to overwhelm him and he pushed it aside. Don't think about her.

Putting a disillusionment charm on himself, he crept closer to them until he was standing right over them. They sat there, Tabitha with her head in the same sixth year boy's lap again and Serina rolling a joint and the others drinking from their bottles and flicking bottle caps off the roof.

"I was never made aware that half of this house is nocturnal," he said quietly.

They all started and nearly slid off the rooftop as they leapt away from him with wide eyes. He took the charm off himself and stared down at them.

Recovering from their shock, they smirked up at him and Serina gave him the finger. He vanished her finger and raised an eyebrow at them. "I thought I was quite clear when I told you lot to go to bed. Apparently English is difficult for you to grasp. Allow me to show you what I meant."

Flicking his wand at each of them, he lifted them off the roof and sent them hurling down to the ground below. They would probably be screaming if they hadn't been silenced and Severus smirked as he caught each of them before they hit the ground and put them on their feet. Stepping off the roof, he floated down to them and then started marching across the dark grounds to the side entrance to the dungeons.

He glanced over his shoulder. "You can either walk on your own or I'll make you walk, either way, we're going inside."

Glaring at him, two of them started following them, but were quickly stopped by Tabitha's glare and Serina's hand on their arms.

Severus turned back around and raised an eyebrow at them. The sixth year boy stuck his chin out at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you all want to spend the night out here? My apologies. Please, go ahead." Drawing a circle around them, he enclosed them in a shield, guaranteeing that they could only move a few inches from where they were standing before being stopped and then walked off, going to the side entrance and letting himself in.

"_You can't leave them out there_!" Fawkes hissed at him the minute the wall of rock had rematerialized behind him.

"_What the hell do you want me to do_?" Severus rounded on the phoenix who was hovering a few feet behind him. "_I don't want to pull each and every one of them back into their beds by force and restrain them in it! Besides, the shield will keep rain off them if it rains and will keep anything and anyone from passing through it. Nothing will harm them._"

"_You still can't leave six students on the front lawn for the entire night_."

"_I'm not leaving them out there for the entire night, idiot_!"

Turning away from the bird, Severus jogged up the dungeon steps and continued up until he was standing in the hallway above the entrance hall and had a clear view of his six little night time wanderers through a window. For twenty minutes, he let them stand there, fidgeting and mouthing at each other and shivering in the cold, all the while carefully watching the surrounding darkness and ready to leap out of the window if anything should move.

After twenty minutes, he went back down and came back across the lawn.

"Why the long faces? I thought you all wanted to have a fun night time adventure? What? Sneaking out in the dead of night not as much fun as it's supposed to be?"

Flicking his wand at them, he removed the silencing charm and lowered the shield and turned back around.

Four of them slowly started after him, glaring at his back and moping, but Serina and Tabitha remained where they were, glaring and whispering at each other.

Severus turned back around.

"Ms. Coolridge, Ms. Rigel, you are both welcome to stay out here but unfortunately, I can't let you stay out here without being protected by a shield. Safety concerns, you understand. But be forewarned that I'm going to bed after this and won't be back up here until morning. If you want to stay out here and play proud rebels, be my guests. You won't make me lose any sleep."

They stayed where they were, glaring at him and their arms crossed. Severus turned back around and walked after the others. By the time he reached the side entrance, he heard two more sets of footsteps behind him.

They went back to the common room and Severus waited while they all stomped up the stairs to their dormitories.

Just before Serina slammed her and Tabitha's door, Severus smirked up at her. "Now wasn't that fun? Really, we must do it again."

"Fuck you!" Serina yelled down to him before slamming the door. Severus knew the slam had been coming and flicked his wand just in time. The door hit the doorframe and wildly rebounded, nearly knocking Serina over.

"You might want to treat the door with a bit more respect, Ms. Rigel. Have a very good evening."

Turning on his heel, he left the common room, feeling Serina's glare and smirking.

XXXXXX

Even though he had managed to get a victory the night before, he hadn't had time for a wink of sleep, constantly going back to the common room and checking to make sure everybody was in the beds they were supposed to be in. Twice he found too many people in one bed and send the visitor flying down the corridor back to his or her own room.

Since they were still fully clothed, he let it go and just threatened to lock their doors and put chamber pots under everyone's beds if they were incapable of staying put.

By the time morning came, he was exhausted and couldn't believe that he had to start teaching today.

He gathered up his lesson plans and wearily waited sprawled out in his office chair until he had to get up to go to his first class. He couldn't remember every having been this exhausted. Spying was nothing compared to this. Why anyone spent their time dreaming that they wanted to be a teacher was beyond him.

When he had five minutes until the bell was due to ring, he wearily pushed himself up and dragged himself out of his office. Once he was in the hallway, he forced himself to stand up straight and take longer steps, not looking like the dead tired corpse he felt like.

Entering his classroom, he barely glanced at the class as he went to the front. Remembering at the last minute to shut the door, he flicked his wand behind him and heard the door slam rather satisfyingly. A few of the girls in the class screamed and Severus smirked. He was going to make a habit of slamming that door if that was the reaction he would get. Of course the class was a Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff split. Ravenclaws were too bookish to be scared of anything, Gryffs too stupid and Slytherins too controlled. It had to have been a Hufflepuff who screamed.

Reaching the front, he spun on his heels and glared at the lot of them.

Grabbing the register from the podium before him, he glanced over the names, surprised to see a few last names he recognized.

"When I call your name, you'll respond, otherwise, shut up."

He went through the list, glancing up at each tiny squeak of recognition and memorizing the face and the name. When he was done, he tossed it down and glared at them.

"My name is Professor Snape. You are here to learn the art of potion making. Even though you are a fourth year class, I doubt any of you actually learned anything of use in the past four years. In order for me to fully appreciate how incompetend you all really are, today we will be brewing a very simple skin tone alteration potion." He glanced down at the list of names. "Mr….Pinger, what are the three basic components of this particular potion?"

"Uhm…I have no idea, sir."

Severus glared. "Well, what are the basic components of any human system alteration potion?"

"I really don't know, sir."

Severus was about to open his mouth to call for Bella, when he suddenly remembered that these weren't his potions assistants and were just students. Stupid students, but students nonetheless. And the headmaster had told him the only way he was allowed to punish them for stupidity.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff, Mr. Pinger. Now, you'll have to think a little harder. Give me one basic component."

The answer was so simple that Severus had to wonder if the boy was right in the head.

Brendan continued staring at him, looking a bit shocked at having lost his house points but still shrugged, looking apologetic but not really caring about the fact that he was a dunderhead.

"Ten more points off Hufflepuff."

The rest of the Hufflepuffs had sat up with a jerk and stared at him. "Sir! That's not fair!"

Severus spared the talker a glance. "Five more points off Hufflepuff for speaking out of turn, Ms. Reilly. Keep your mouth shut unless I ask you something."

The girl stared at him with huge eyes, gasped and turned to her neighbors as if confirming that this new teacher was completely out of line.

Severus turned back to Brendan. "Well?"

"I really don't know, sir. Sorry. How about you ask someone else?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. Not only didn't he know, but he didn't even care and didn't even want to try.

"Twenty points off Hufflepuff…"

"What? Sir, I told you—"

"Thirty points off Hufflepuff…"

"Sir! That's not—"

"Forty points off Hufflepuff….Think, Mr. Pinger! What goes into your cauldron first? Before anything else?"

"Uhm…"

"Fifty points off Hufflepuff."

"Uhm, water? Water! Water! Sir, water!"

Severus glared at him. "Finally, Mr. Pinger. That only took 165 points. I hate to think how far behind both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff could get before we get all the ingredients on the board."

Immediately, three Ravenclaw's hands shot up. Severus nodded his chin at one of them, who promptly blurted out all three ingredients. Severus flicked his wand at the board and put the words up, along with amounts and directions. When he didn't give them any points, the Ravenclaws in the class looked ready to yell at him, but he silenced any potential outbursts with glares. There was no way he was going to reward someone for knowing something so basic.

Waving his wand at the board one more time, he put up the rest of the directions.

"You will be working with the partner you have sitting beside you. All the ingredients you need are in the stores cupboard at the front and your cauldrons are on the shelves along the back." When they didn't move, he glared. "Do you need me to write it on your foreheads for clarity? Get going!"

The scrappings of chairs and clanking of metal filled the room as people milled around and got their ingredients.

Once they had gotten started, Severus walked up and down the rows, gawking at the mess he was seeing. Some students were blindly throwing ingredients into their cauldrons, not bothering to measure anything. Others were randomly stabbing their roots and dumping the results into the cauldrons, none of them remotely the same shape. Quite a few of them forgot to light a fire under their cauldrons and sat listlessly at their desks, talking to their neighbor as they stirred the cold mess every which way and stopping every few minutes to rest their hands.

It nearly brought Severus to tears. After seeing one student gazing into her cauldron and dipping her finger and licking it, he stormed over to her.

"What the hell are you doing, Ms. Templeton?"

"I was testing it to see if it was finished, sir."

"By tasting it!"

She blinked. "Yes, sir." She smiled a bit at him, obviously not realizing why he was getting hysterical.

"And what if you'd made something toxic, you stupid girl!"

She blinked. "But it's not toxic sir. It's a skin tone alte—"

"Just because that's what it says on the board doesn't mean you made it properly, idiot! Twenty points from Ravenclaw!"

Seeing the shocked faces around him, he swept the room with his wand, emptying all the cauldrons and getting rid of mutilated ingredients, already mourning the loss of perfectly good supplies and regretting the fact that Bella was in Azkaban.

"Everybody will stop what they're doing. Shut your books and put your cauldrons under your desks. We're going back to the basics."

Seeing the confused stares, he glared. "Are you deaf as well as incompotent? Shut your books and get your knives out of your kits."

Going up to the front, he got out his own kit and pulled out his knife. Summoning a root from the store cupboard, he enlarged it and started showing them how to measure specific distances on it with their fingers and how to cut it without cutting off their fingers.

After watching him, everyone slowly got their knives out and went to get more roots and sat down, painstakingly starting to cut. Severus walked up and down the rows, sneering at the uneven slices and merely grunting at the correctly sliced ones.

It was going to be a long day.

XXXXXX

His next class was a sixth year Hufflepuff Ravenclaw split—all of whom were quickly informed that they were really in third year and shouldn't make the mistake of thinking they were in any way prepared to tackle NEWT material. He thought he recognized some of them from having been second years back in his last year at school, but none of them appeared to recognize him. All the better. He was still dreading the thought of any Gryffs remembering Potter's and Black's special nickname for him, but so far none of them appeared to remember him.

He didn't see any of his Slytherins until after lunch, when he had a second year Gryffindor Slytherin split. He was in an unbelievably foul mood by the time he slammed the classroom door. He hadn't had time for lunch since he had already started frantically revising the lesson plans he had already written up and which had become useless after his first class.

He glared around the room and strode to the front, noticing that all the Gryffindors were sitting clustered together in one half of the classroom and about five Slytherins were sitting in the back corner. Two of them were asleep and one of them was carving into his desk with his knife.

Severus glared at them. He didn't even have to look at the register to realize that a certain Ms. Coolridge and Ms. Rigel were both missing, along with more than three quarters of his second years.

"Mr. Dayton, you have one second to get rid of that knife if you ever want to see it again and you will be spending dinner time cleaning all of these desks."

Leland glanced up and glared at him, the effect actually quite frightening coming from a pale face covered in black eyeliner and black lipstick. "What for?"

"Since you seem to have perfected the art of destroying school property, you will now start learning how to perfect the art of cleaning school property as well."

Leland opened his mouth to tell him off but Severus raised an eyebrow. Leland knew he was about to lose his voice—probably for the rest of the day and he wisely shut his mouth again.

"Now, Ms. Welton, where the hell are the rest of your collegues?"

She blinked at him and frowned at her neighbor as if he was incredibly dense. "Well, they're still sleeping, sir."

Severus stared at her. "Sleeping?"

"Yes, sir."

"_Sleeping_?"

"Uhm, yes. Sir."

Swallowing a few words which the headmaster would most definitely not approve of him using infront of twelve year olds, Severus stepped out of his classroom and yelled for Gabby.

"Yes, Master Severus?"

"Find me firecrackers. Lots of them. Now."

She blinked and then immediately nodded. "Yes, sir. Right away."

She was back in a few moments with an armful of fire crackers—probably having stolen them directly from Filch's office, but Severus didn't care.

Putting a directional charm on them, Severus lined them up in the hallway, pointed them towards the common room and then glanced at Gabby.

"Get down there and open the common room door and make sure they end up upstairs."

"In dormitories?"

"In _occupied_ dormitories. Make sure they stay in there too."

Gabby grinned wickedly. "Yes, Master Severus."

She disappeared and Severus lit the firecrackers and watched them zoom down the corridor, their high pitched screeches madly bouncing off the walls.

Smirking to himself, Severus stepped back into the classroom and slammed the door. He knew that Tabitha and the rest of them wouldn't come to class but at least he would make sure that they wouldn't be sleeping in anymore.

Reaching the front, he grabbed the register and started calling out names, already feeling a bit more cheerful again.


	4. Chapter 4

Path of Twinkling Dusk 

Chapter 4

Author's Note: Once again, my sincerest apologies. I forgot I had to go to field school for a week and I forgot to update before I left. Feel free to glare and shake those fists at me, I know I deserve it. I hope the fact that I'm giving you guys two chapters will pacify you guys a little bit. Hopefully. Maybe.

As always, thank you to all the people who reviewed and to those silent readers. Let me know what you think!

'Don't go chasing waterfalls. Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to. I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all. I just think you're moving too fast.'

- 'Waterfalls' by TLC

Jan. 9th, 1982

Hogwarts School

Racing up the stairs two at a time, he reached the main hall in record time. Knowing he only had five minutes before he had to be in class, he raced around the corner and reached the girl's bathroom in moments.

Slowing down, he put an enhancement charm on his ear and leaned towards the door. He heard quiet voices whispering and immediately recognized all three of them.

Deciding that there was nobody else in the bathroom, he took the charm off his ear and flicked his wand at the door, causing it to implode inwards with a bang.

All three of them screamed and Severus smirked. Stepping into the bathroom, he raised an eyebrow.

He was about to ask them if they intended on studying toilets for the day, when he smelt it.

That distinct, sickeningly sweet smell of crystal meth swirled around him and he froze.

Serina, Tabitha and her sixth year boyfriend, Janus Altair all stared at him, smirking.

"Got a problem with the door, Professor?" Janus asked, leaning against a bathroom stall and crossing his arms.

Serina laughed a high pitched, unnatural laugh and nearly fell over. Tabitha snorted and pulled out the white powder encrusted glass pipe from behind her and stuck the tip into her mouth.

Severus was momentarily so angry that he thought he'd blast them all into as many pieces as the door.

"Give me that pipe, Ms. Coolridge."

Tabitha momentarily stopped flicking the lighter she was trying to light up and narrowed her eyes at him. "No. Fuck off," she muttered around the pipe in her mouth.

"Give it to me now," he said, trying to keep his voice even and calm. The smell was starting to give him a headache and grabbing onto his nerve endings and sending them spinning. His hands were starting to shake, itching to grab the pipe from her and finish whatever tiny amount was left in it.

Serina finally stopped laughing and glared at him. "It's our meth. Fuck off and leave us alone."

Feeling his control rapidly slipping away from him, Severus snapped his fingers at the pipe, yanking it from Tabitha's mouth and making it explode a safe distance from her face.

"Hey!"

"What the hell is your problem, you stupid fuck!"

"We paid for that!"

His head was throbbing and the Banshees were starting to keen in the back of his head and their outraged yelling wasn't helping. "Shut up!" he hissed at them, sweeping a hand over them and casting a silencing charm over them.

He took a few moments to let the silence try to sooth his headache but it didn't help. Nadia wandered away from the sink she had been inspecting and stood beside him, smiling vaguely and staring at the three glaring, angry teenagers. Seeing her made him even angrier.

"You're all in detention for the rest of the day. You can all either walk yourselves down to the dungeons or I will force you to. Your choice."

None of them moved and Serina gave him the finger and Janus smirked, still leaning against the bathroom stall.

Wanting to scream at them and throw them all off the roof, he snapped his fingers at all three of them and yanked them off their feet and sent them hurling out of the bathroom and down the corridor towards the dungeons.

Striding after them, he made sure they didn't hit any walls along the way and steered them down the stairs.

When they arrived at his classroom, he threw them inside and made them each land at separate desks. He ignored the surprised yelps and gasps from the fourth year Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff class sitting there waiting for him.

Slamming the door, he strode to the front and snapped at the class to open their textbooks to that day's assignment.

He thought about assigning all three of them a cleaning chore, but knew from last week that it would be futile. He had tried to get Serina to clean out some old cauldrons after catching her sneaking out three times in twenty minutes, and had come back into his classroom to find them all throw all around and her sitting at a desk with her feet up, smoking.

So he glued all of their bottoms to their chairs and prepared to spend the rest of the day in his classroom, having a glaring contest with three angry, silent, glaring teenagers.

None of his other students dared ask about the presence of two second year and one sixth year Slytherin students sitting silently at their various desks, with their arms crossed, lips pursed and glaring constantly at their head of house.

None of them saw the little girl who sat perched on the Severus' desk, swinging her legs and smiling at the other students.

The constant sight of Nadia made Severus angrier as the day wore on. After he had finally finished teaching his last class of the day, he leaned against his desk and glared at them. He decided it was finally time to start the argument he knew had been brewing all day and he lifted the silencing charm on them.

"I warned you all that I wouldn't tolerate any drugs in the castle," he hissed.

Serina glared. "And we told you we don't give a shit about what you do or don't tolerate."

"Yeah. If we want to smoke meth then its nobody's business but our own."

Nadia turned her head and gave Severus a little smile. He grit his teeth and felt a headache coming on.

Slamming his fists onto his desk, he turned on them. "I'm your head of house and whatever you do while you're in my house is my damn business!" he yelled.

Janus snorted and exchanged looks with the two others. Tabitha laughed and leaned back in her chair, twirling her hair around her finger.

"Whatever."

Severus wanted to grab her by the throat and point at the small seven year old sitting on his desk. He wanted to scream at her that Nadia would never be able to go to school, would never make friends, would never live life again because of drugs. Not only that, but Tabitha had all the things that Nadia would never be able to have and she didn't give a damn.

But he couldn't. Instead, he leaned against his desk, fighting to get his control back.

"I would ask you where the rest of your stash is, but I know you'll just lie to me. Be forewarned that I will spend the rest of the night looking for that stash and I will find it and get rid of it. Now, all of you are going to get into your rooms and will stay there until tomorrow morning, at which time you'll come back to this classroom and spend the day glued to these chairs."

Serina snorted and Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Janus smirked. "Make us."

Severus smirked right back at him and strode up to his desk and leaned across it until he was inches from the sixth year boy. "Oh, I think I will, Mr. Altair."

Jan. 10th, 1982

Hogwarts School

"Gabrielle?"

"Yes, Master Severus?"

"Have the firecrackers been dispatched?"

"Five minutes ago."

"Good. Gorgon, where on earth is the hiccuping potion from this lesson plan?"

"That Wednesday lesson plan. We moved hiccuping potion to Thursday."

"Right. Can you get all my lesson plans into the classroom for me? I have to go pick up Ms. Coolridge, Ms. Rigel and Mr. Altair."

"Gabby thinking their punishment done. They all sit in detention all day yesterday."

"First off, they didn't come in by themselves and I had to drag them in by force, and second of all, their offense was a serious one. Since they won't do any menial tasks I set for them, they'll sit in detention until I decide that they've served their time."

"And that be when?"

"I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking about doing a yearly system for detentions."

"Yearly system?"

"Yes. Second years get two days, fifth years get five and so on."

"Oh, Mr. Altair not going to be happy about that."

"No, I don't suppose so. But he is older and should be more responsible."

Gabby smirked and leaned back in her chair. Life in Slytherin house had become much more entertaining since Master Severus had come back.

Jan. 29th, 1982

Hogwarts School

"Professor Snape? Professor Snape!"

"Yes, Professor Sinistra?"

"Do you have a moment?"

"No."

"Oh, are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, and not that it's any of your business but I have to check in with my probation officer. They demand punctuality."

"Oh."

He smirked at her frown and continued striding down the corridor, not slowing down.

"Well, when you return, I demand that you deal with Carling Dayton."

"What did she do this time?"

"She threw a chair at a fellow student."

"Interesting. Why did she throw the chair?"

"I have no idea, Professor. I don't care. I will not tolerate such behavior in my classroom."

"Did you throw her out?"

"Of course I did and I don't want her back."

"Professor, it took me two weeks of threats and coaxing to her to attend your class in the first place. You can't throw her out after I forced her back in!"

"I don't want her kind in my classroom."

"Her _kind_?"

"Yes. I demand that you formally withdraw her from my class."

"Did she hurt a student?"

"This is the third time this week that she's lost her temper in my classroom and I won't have it anymore!"

Severus sighed inwardly and threw the woman a glare. "We will discuss this when I return, Professor."

"But, Mr. Snape!"

"It's Professor Snape and I will see you in a few hours."

With a final parting smirk, he shut the doors to the entrance hall in her face with a bang.

XXXXXX

"Ms. Dayton, sit down."

"I didn't do anything."

She crossed her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrow, staring at him with what she must have thought looked to be innocence. Like with her brother, the effect was slightly ruined by her heavy dark make-up.

"Professor Sinistra claims that you threw a chair in her classroom. It's the third time this week that you've lost your temper in her class and she wants me to remove you permanently from her class."

"Good. I never wanted to go to that stupid class anyway."

"And I told you that at twelve you have no idea what classes you will need later on in life and if I say that you will stay in astronomy, then you will stay in astronomy. Now, why did you feel the need to rearrange her furniture?"

A shrug. Severus sighed. "You will spend the next two days in detention in my classroom, after which, you will return to all your classes, including astronomy and you will behave yourself."

"Whatever."

Severus was really starting to despise that word.


	5. Chapter 5

Path of Twinkling Dusk 

Chapter 5

'If you could dance with me through this rain, we will fight.'

- 'Secrets' by Good Charlotte

Feb. 13th, 1982

Hogwarts School

"Karkaroff named me?"

"I told you, Severus. It wasn't a problem. This was the precise reason I have been attending all their trials. I immediately reminded Crouch that you have been vouched for and are on probation."

Severus bit his lip as he stared out at the grounds from the office window. He narrowed his eyes briefly, thinking he saw a familiar blond head behind the greenhouses. At a second glance, he realized it was only a sunflower and breathed a silent sigh of relief. He had already chased Tabitha out of the bathroom during first period and then dragged her down to his classroom where she spent the rest of the day.

"Who else did he name?"

"Oh, he had quite the collection of names, unfortunately, he didn't have a very updated list. Travers, Dolohov and Mulciber are all already arrested and he was quite adament about Evan Rosier. He was quite surprised to hear the boy has been dead for a few years already."

"Evan died at Burginham. Karkaroff was there, he probably just didn't remember it."

"I was surprised he even remembered Evan's name. The way you spoke of Evan, he never seemed to be a very high ranking Death Eater."

Severus shook his head. "We went on a mission together with Travers and Bella. He probably remembered both Travers and Rosier from then."

"The McKinnons?"

Severus clenched his jaw, memories taking him back to that terrible night. He glanced sideways at Vera Powell and Katie, who both gave him small smiles.

Shaking his head, he forced himself back to the conversation.

"Who else?"

"Rookwood."

Severus nodded. "He was an espionage assistant planted in the ministry."

"Yes. Never struck me as the brightest spoon in the drawer."

Severus snorted. "Jugson's choices for assistants were in some cases inexplicable."

He frowned. "By the way, have the aurors caught any sign of her?"

Dumbledore sighed and went to stand beside him at the window. "I'm afraid not. She could be anywhere by now, hiding under any identity. She was the espionage master, after all."

Severus clenched his jaw. He hated the fact that so many of them were still out there, either hiding or living lives in freedom.

"We'll find her, Severus."

"Bloody unlikely."

"If she slips up even for an instant, we'll be there to catch that slip and we'll grab her. These things take time."

Severus nodded. They both stared out at the quiet lake for a moment before Dumbledore turned back to his desk.

"So Karkaroff got off?"

A heavy sigh echoed around the office. "Yes. He's on probation for six months. After that, he's free to go anywhere."

Severus tasted bile in the back of his throat and slammed his fists onto the windowpane. Igor Karkaroff sold the ministry one lousy, relatively unimportant name and he was free to live life as if he hadn't murdered dozens of innocent people. Yes, Severus had too, but at least Severus regretted what he had done. The only thing Igor Karkaroff felt any remorse for was getting caught.

Dumbledore started shuffling papers. "I feel the same way, Severus. Believe me."

"We're not taking our eyes off him, headmaster."

"I have no intention to."

Feb. 19th, 1982

Hogwarts School

"—and any moron who is incapable of finishing this in the twenty minutes we have left shouldn't even be in this—"

A small knock on his door interupted his final instructions and he glared at it, waving his wand at the door and causing it to spring open.

A tiny Gryffindor stood at the door, his eyes huge. "Uhm, Professor Snape, sir?"

"What?"

"Uh, Professor McGonagall would like you to come to the front lawn."

"Now?"

"Yes, sir. There's a problem with some Slytherins. Professor Kettleburn was yelling horrendously."

Severus swallowed a sigh and glared at the class. He considered telling them to sit quietly and wait until he returned, but he didn't want to chance them blowing up his classroom while he was gone.

"Everybody get out! Class dismissed!"

They all sat there, blinking at him for a moment before they all scrambled to pack up their kits and books and file out the door.

He strode after them and raced up the stairs and out of the castle. He followed the small Gryffindor as the boy raced ahead of him across the lawn and to the side of the castle.

Severus frowned when he saw smoke billowing from the corner and he sniffed it, quickly identifying it as something burning. Something large burning.

Feeling a headache coming on, he quietly hoped it wasn't anything too valuable.

Rounding the corner, he quickly came upon the chaotic scene.

Professor Kettleburn was conjuring streams of water from his wand and directing them onto the heavily smoking, charred remains of what seemed to be three stuffed chairs and a couch. Professor McGonagall was glaring at Serina, Tabitha and Janus, looking like she had already yelled herself hoarse at them.

Serina and Tabitha were laughing hysterically, hanging off each other and so high that Severus was surprised they were still capable of staying on their feet. Janus was leaning against a tree grinning and looking quite amused, both by the situation and by his fellow troublemakers' behavior.

While he took in the scene, Severus was sorely tempted to ask if they had used magic to hoist the furniture outside and set it on fire, but then decided that this was probably not the time.

"Professor Snape! Professor Kettleburn caught these three lighting this furniture on fire and pushing it out of a second story window! How dare—"

Knowing she was about to start yelling at him as if this was all his fault, Severus glared at all of them and quickly interupted her. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall, but I shall deal with this problem."

He turned to the three of them. "Shut your mouths and get into the castle right now," he hissed quietly.

Janus snorted and muttered something and Tabitha and Serina just laughed harder. When he saw both Professors still staring at him, he shot them a glare.

"Thank you both, but I believe I said I will take care of the situation."

"But the furniture—"

"Will be replaced, I assure you."

He waited as they both strode away. Then he threw a silencing charm at his three Slytherins and lifted them up and sent them flying towards the side entrance to the dungeons.

Following them, he didn't release the charm until they had landed in their separate desks. Slamming the door, he strode up to his desk and glared at them. Janus was still smirking and the other two were laughing silently, nearly convulsing.

"You think this is hilarious, don't you? Destroying things that are not your own?"

Serina nodded vigorously and Tabitha shook harder with laughter as she put her head onto her desk.

Severus glared at them and charmed them to be stuck to their chairs. "It'll be even more funny when you replace the chairs and couch."

He saw their eye rolling and Janus mouthing 'yeah, right'. Smiling coldly, he strode out of the classroom without another word to them. He knew they couldn't speak or get up so he wasn't worried about leaving them alone.

Striding into the common room, he hurried up the spiral staircases to Tabitha and Serina's room and slammed open the door. Pulling out his wand, he quickly transfigured their beds into chairs and then sent them flying out the door and towards the common room door. Going into Janus' room, he transfigured his bed into a couch and then quickly scribbled a note to Professor McGonagall saying he had found suitable replacement furniture and for her to put it where it was missing.

Attaching the note to the couch, he sent the whole package flying out of the common room, down the corridor and up the stairs to wherever Professor McGongall currently was.

Ignoring the confused frowns from his other Slytherins, he went back into his classroom and settled down behind his desk.

"You'll be thrilled to know I took care of the problem for you. And just like you, I found it marvelously entertaining."

Smirking at them, he pulled out a stack of essays and started marking them.

Mar. 1st, 1982

Hogwarts School

Putting another marked essay into his finished pile, he reached for another one with one hand while taking a sip of his tea with the other.

The classroom was completely silent, as it was nearly every single day.

Tabitha, Serina, Janus, Carling Dayton and a few others were sitting at various desks, silencing charms on them and looking utterly bored as they served their detentions for offences which Severus had already lost track of.

Carling's twin brother Leland was sitting in the back beside his sister. The two of them never seemed to do anything without the other, so whenever Carling was put into detention for throwing things, yelling or generally having fits of temper at inappropriate times in inappropriate places, Leland would come along and sit beside her. Being the quieter of the two, Severus never put a silencing charm on him and allowed him to sit there, quietly drawing on long scrolls of parchment while he waited for his sister's detention to end.

Tabitha was sitting there with her arms crossed, her face pale and dark circles under her eyes. Serina didn't look much better. She was trembling slightly and was sweating despite the cool dungeon air. Both of them were experiencing the beginnings of withdrawal symptoms from crystal meth.

Severus had told them a hundred times that they could detox in the hospital wing, but they had always either ignored him or laughed it off, saying their only problem was him. He knew their problem was only getting worse, but until they accepted the help he was offering, there was nothing much he could do. He still regularily searched the dormitories and the rest of the obvious hiding places and had confiscated more drugs than he cared to remember but he didn't have time to run all around England to find the drug dealers who were supplying twelve year olds with drugs and of course, his little junkies refused to give up their supplier.

Janus was tapping his fingers on his desk, looking utterly bored and the other troublemakers were all slouched at their desks, in various states of boredom.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carling turn to her brother and mouth something at him. He frowned and glanced at Severus' desk and held a finger to his lips. She frowned back and sat up with a jerk.

"Ms. Dayton, communicating with others during detention is not allowed, as you know. Either leave Mr. Dayton alone or I will ask him to leave."

Carling spared him a withering glare but at a pleading look from her brother, she huffed and crossed her arms and went back to staring at the blackboard.

There was a small knock on the door. Severus glanced up and called for the person to enter as he put another finished essay onto the growing pile.

The door squeaked open and the tiny form of Emma Treagle appeared.

"Yes, Ms. Treagle?"

"Uhm, I didn't mean to interupt, sir…"

"I have a lot of work to do, Ms. Treagle, but I have a few minutes of time to spare."

She shuffled forward between the desks, trying hard not to glance at the many people sitting at their desks in silence.

She reached his desk and shifted around, clearly uncomfortable.

He didn't take his eyes off the paper he was marking. "What is is, Ms. Treagle?"

"Well, sir. I was trying to finish the paper Professor Flitwick had assigned, but I don't think I got what he was trying to explain."

"How much have you written?"

"About a paragraph."

"And you were assigned…?"

"11 inches, sir."

Severus stopped marking to stare at her. "And a paragraph was all you could come up with?"

"Yes, sir."

"What about your textbook?"

"It confused me, sir."

Severus sighed. He debated sending her to find Flitwick, but knew from personal experience that the man was hopeless at explaining concepts in more ways than the one he had perfected over the past three hundred years or however long he had been teaching.

Taking out his wand, he summoned a chair over to his desk. "Sit down and give me your textbook."

She immediately scrambled to sit down and pull out her textbook. Flipping it open to the page she needed, he read over the paragraph. Reading it over twice more, he leaned back.

"What on earth is so complex about this, Ms. Treagle?"

"I don't understand what they mean when they say 'unidirectional'."

"This is what dictionaries are for, Ms. Treagle." Turning towards the door, he summoned a dictionary from his office and when it landed on his desk with a thunk, he pushed it over to her.

"Now. Look up any words you don't understand and re-write that paragraph in your own words."

"Yes, sir." Immediately, she bent over the dictionary, flipping pages.

Severus went back to marking, silence once more settling over the classroom.

Mar. 13th, 1982

Hogwarts School

Flipping a page in the Prophet, he strode towards the stairs leading down to the dungeons. A headline caught his eye. _Death Eater Jugson Sighted At Trelley!_

Severus snorted. As if Alexandra Jugson would be stupid enough to be strolling around a small English town while everybody from the ministry was hunting for her.

Feeling mildly irritated by the news—since this false sighting would send every auror in the country flocking to Trelley and away from the places they could have some success at—he folded the paper up and hurried down the stairs.

The sound of loud yells immediately reached him. Sighing and hoping it wasn't the usual flaring of tempers amongst some of his more temperamental charges, he hurried his pace and rounded the corner to see two sixth years and a seventh year brawling in the middle of the floor.

Hurrying up to them, he pulled out his wand and yanked all three of them apart, leaving them hanging in mid air and slowly revolving, faces still enraged and fists flying until all three of them realized they were fighting empty air.

The yelling, cheering crowd had immediately calmed down. A few of them even tried sneaking off, but Severus glared at them.

"I don't think so, Mr. Altair, Mr. Prescott. Get back here at once."

Striding into the middle of the crowd, he glared at the three fighters, who were still gasping for air and were sending glares at each other.

"Now. Ms. Corvax, what happened?"

The seventh year girl stepped forward and glared at one of the sixth years. "Sir, Alanson was saying how thrilled he was that Master Jugson was sighted and how he hoped she would be apprehended."

Severus felt his stomach twisting. Not just at hearing her referring to the female Death Eater as 'Master Jugson' but at what she was saying.

Instantly, he understood. Alanson was the son of a ministry official, while the other two fighters were Travers and Mulciber's nephews. Severus knew the two boys had been sore that their uncles had been sitting in Azkaban for quite a while already, but he never knew that they harbored such fierce loyalty to Death Eaters who were still free.

He stared around the crowd, seeing Corvax's smirk and knowing she expected him to stick up for his former collegues and disembowl Alanson on the spot. He also saw the fearful looks some of the younger Slytherins were casting his way. They knew very little about the war and only knew that their head of house had in some ways been involved in it.

Here was the situation he had been hoping to avoid, but had always known that such an assumption was foolish. Many of the older Slytherins had been on the verge of being recruited before the war ended—he even recognized some of their names from having been recruited the day the manor was partially destroyed and having managed to escape. Many of them had family members who had been prominent Death Eaters for years and had spent their lives being groomed to be assistants and helping to bring about the new world order.

Others had parents in the ministry or weren't purebloods or—like Severus—resented what the Dark Lord had stood for and his methods.

Even though the actual war was over, there was still a war in his own house between those the war had left behind and those who had opposed it.

He glared at all of them. He knew what he had to do. He couldn't risk admitting that he hoped Jugson would be caught and executed on the spot, knowing that many of his students would run off to tell their parents, who would undoubtly realize he had betrayed them and would start plotting ways for him to have a fatal 'accident'. On the other hand, he wouldn't openly start spouting the rubbish that would turn the younger ones minds over to the dark side.

"Everybody get into the common room and assemble the rest of the house. We're not having this discussion in the middle of the corridor."

Turning, he strode towards the common room, needing the few moments to collect his thoughts.

When he reached the common room, he went to stand by the mantle and waited as the rest of his house threw themselves into chairs and couches or lounged on the floor.

Finally, he straightened up and gave them all long looks. "Nobody will interupt me until the end." He gave some of the older Slytherins hard looks and waited until they sat back or rolled their eyes, their way of agreeing to his terms.

"The war is now over. There are no more sides to pick and no more battles to be fought. Having said that, I realize people still have differing opinions. These opinions are neither right, nor wrong and stem from your backgrounds and your own personal beliefs. We are one house and we will not be divided as if we were at war. A war was fought and won by one side, and the other side must now pay the price of defeat. It doesn't matter which side won and which lost. The ministry won and the dark forces lost which means the ministry's rules are what we must abide by and if they feel that certain individuals must pay for what they call crimes, than we will accept that."

"They're heroes and they were just trying to make our world better than the shit it's now and it's not our problem that the ministry can't see that!" Serina loudly interupted him.

Immediately, Alanson turned to her. "They're nothing but murdering scum and they should all pay the price for what they did, like the professor did!"

"My sister was a hero and she died trying to make our world better!"

"Your sister—"

"Silence!" Severus yelled, on the verge of losing his temper. Serina's attitude wasn't helping, especially considering that she still thought her sister had died a hero while fighting, and not by committing suicide in her own bedroom and not having been missed or discovered for hours afterwards.

"As I said, we are not at war anymore and it is not up to us to decide how the ministry deals with the clean up. You are here to go to school and learn and whether you like it or not, we are all one house and it is highly time we start behaving as such. Is it not enough that the rest of the school thinks we should all be punished for what every Death Eater has ever done, never mind if some of us are too young to even know what the war was about? From now on, I don't want anybody getting into physical confrontations concerning the war or the hunt for fugitives. Instead of getting into scabbles concerning what you do or do not think about Death Eaters, you should spend more time concerning yourself with the fact that Mr. Cleary was locked in a broom closet in full view of half the school and none of you bothered to try to help him."

"That's not our problem."

"It should be! The rest of the school all thinks Slytherins should be locked up in Azkaban from the age of two onwards since we are all obviously deranged killers. And what do you all do? Lounge around, skip class, let your fellow collegues get humiliated and picked on and get into physical fights over situations which are your parents' problems and not your own."

An older Slytherin girl frowned at him. "What are you saying, sir?"

"I'm saying that you should forget about what's happening outside of these walls and let your parents and the ministry deal with it and focus instead on the shambles that this house has become. You might not be able to fix what's happening outside of this castle, but you can fix what's inside of it. Think about it."

Not waiting for the uproar to start again, he swept out of the common room and walked into his office and slammed the door behind him.

Moments later, Gorgon apparated and started applauding.

"Shut up, elf. I didn't have a clue what I was talking about."

"Well, even if not, it sounded good. Young master not say he on one side or other, but he trying to get children focused on something other than whether Master Alexandra bad person or not."

Severus snorted. "They're probably back to strangling each other by now."


	6. Chapter 6

Path of Twinkling Dusk 

Chapter 6

Author's Notes: Hey everybody! School's out which means I'm back to working full time. Oh, the joys of summer. As always, thanks for all the reviews! Here we have more Slytherin fun as we rapidly head towards the ending of our young professor's first year of teaching. Hope you all enjoy and feel free to direct any complaints, questions, concerns or praise my way!

'You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.'

- Indira Gandhi

April 2nd, 1982

Hogwarts School

Their voices reached him before he even made it to the Defense classroom door. Pushing it open, he took in the scene.

Carling Dayton was standing in front of her brother, Leland and was currently involved in a screaming match with Professor Quirrel, while Leland looked close to tears and was clutching a stack of parchment close to his chest.

"—it's none of your fucking business you piss sucking bas—"

"How dare you use such language, you foul mouthed little hellion!"

"I'll use whatever language I want!"

"Get out of my classroom!" Quirrel roared before Severus stepped forward and put a silencing charm on both of them. It never ceased to amaze Severus how quickly Carling could turn the normally quiet and mild mannered Defense professor into a screaming madman in just moments.

Thinking that Carling had been the one to jinx him, Quirrel stuck his hand into his sleeve to pull out his own wand, but Severus quickly yanked Carling and Leland behind him.

"I apologize for my rude interuption, Professor Quirrel, but the situation seemed to be getting a bit out of hand. If you don't mind, I will speak with Mr and Ms. Dayton and resolve this matter."

Taking the charm off the Defense professor, Severus turned on his heel and marched out, giving Carling and Leland glares to follow him.

Leland immediately hurried after him and Carling crossed her arms, gave Quirrel the finger and stomped out of the classroom after him.

Not having the time to go all the way down to the dungeons, Severus stopped at the closest bathroom, stuck his head in, yelled for everyone inside to get out and then pushed his two charges and himself inside and locked the door.

"Uhm, sir?"

"What, Mr. Dayton?"

"Sir, we're in the girl's bathroom."

"Your point?"

"Well, uhm, shouldn't we go somewhere else?"

"Would you like me to yell at your sister in the Great Hall instead? Would you prefer lunch time or dinner time?"

"I think the bathroom will be just fine, sir."

Turning to Carling, Severus took the silencing charm off her and held up a finger as soon as she opened her mouth to start yelling.

"Keep your mouth shut unless I ask you a direct question, Ms. Dayton or I'll just put the charm right back on."

She crossed her arms and glared at him but kept quiet.

"What started this incident?"

Leland stepped up from behind them. "Uhm, that would have been me, sir. I was drawing."

Severus sighed. "Again? Mr. Dayton we have been over this. You are in class to learn and not to draw. If you were done with your assignments and understood all the material, then perhaps you would have a valid excuse, but your grades are abysmal and spending your entire day doodling on scraps of parchment isn't going to improve them!"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir. I just don't get what the professor is talking about half the time and I nearly fall asleep. That would be terribly rude, right, so I draw to stay awake."

Severus stared at him. "Perhaps trying a bit harder to listen to what the professor is actually saying and trying to absorb the material would keep you awake."

"Yes, sir. I'll try. I'm sorry."

"However, this doesn't explain how or why your sister got involved."

"Uhm, the professor tried to confiscate my drawings and they're a bit personal so I got a bit upset and that's when—"

"That's when Ms. Dayton decided to intervene?"

"Yes, sir."

Now he turned to Carling, who had already opened her mouth but Severus held a finger to his lips again. He knew very well what had happened. The same thing that had happened time and time again. Leland would get in trouble for drawing or falling asleep and when a professor tried to punish him, Carling would let her temper flare up and would get into a confrontation with the teacher, who would end up yelling at Carling instead of Leland. The professors had long since stopped trying to get Carling to listen in class instead of whispering with her neighbors or staring out the window or throwing things at random people in the class. They told Severus that at least Leland seemed to have some potential, but with his inattentiveness, he didn't seem to be getting anywhere either.

"Ms. Dayton, I fail to remember how many times we have been over this. There are certain things a classroom is used for and certain things it is not used for. Drawing and sleeping are activities which are not to be done in the classroom and if Leland does either of these things, then he should be punished accordingly—"

" But—"

"But nothing! Be quiet and listen!" Severus stopped and rubbed his temples. He felt a headache coming on. If only he didn't have to go see his probation officer that night, he could have this discussion later, but as it was, he didn't have a choice. Suddenly, he remembered that he had been in the middle of saying something.

"What the hell was I talking about?"

"That I deserved the punishments I got, sir." Leland supplied helpfully.

That's right. That was where he'd been. "And it is not your place to interfere, Ms. Dayton. Mr. Dayton wasn't being threatened with physical harm or a punishment which is extreme or inhumane, was he? No. There is no need to get so defensive and let your temper get the better of you when he is in no need of protection at the moment."

Carling stuck her chin out and glared at him. "If I don't protect him then nobody will!"

Severus sighed inwardly and stared at her for a long moment. He had suspected for a long time that Carling's overprotectiveness where her brother was concerned hadn't originated at school but steemed from something much worse.

Glancing at the time, he realized that it was lunchtime already. Deciding that he could skip lunch, he rubbed his temples again and used his wand to conjure up three chairs.

"Sit down. Both of you."

The twins exchanged glances and Leland waited until Carling shrugged and slumped into one of chairs before he followed suit.

Severus sat down across from them and looked at them for a long moment, wondering how the hell he was going to go about this.

"Ms. Dayton, how long have you been protecting your brother like this?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to guess where he was going with this while Leland gave Carling a fearful look.

"What does that matter?"

"How long, Ms. Dayton?"

She crossed her arms tightly and her darkly lined eyes narrowed even more. "It's none of your business."

"Ms. Dayton, if there is something going on at home that requires you to protect your brother so harshly—"

"There's nothing going on!"

"There are ways I can help you both, Ms. Dayton. Believe me, I understand how you feel—"

"You don't understand shit! There's nothing going on except the fact that my brother likes to draw and I have a nasty temper! Nothing new there. Now get out of my face and leave us the hell alone!"

Standing up, she grabbed Leland's arm and stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind them.

Severus sat in the silent bathroom for a few minutes, trying to get his headache to go away as memories threatened to overwhelm him. A dark dungeon, being dragged across the floor, the pleas and tears falling on deaf ears, the raised wand, '_Crucio'_, the floor slippery beneath broken, bloodied fingers, sweaty, bloodied sheets beneath him, the creak of an old bedframe rocking back and forth. The fear. The pain. The silent hope that someday, somebody would come and help him.

"—ster Severus!"

He sat up with a jerk as he forced himself back to the present. Rudy was standing there, looking concerned.

"Is Master Severus alright?"

"Yes, Rudolph. I'm fine. What is it?"

"Miss Serina still sitting in detention in classroom and she wanting lunch."

Nodding, Severus stood up and banished the chairs. He would try speaking to the Daytons again, but for now, he had his other Slytherins to also worry about. Besides, as long as they were in school, they were safe. There was plenty of time before summer.

April 7th, 1982

Hogwarts School

"Tea, Severus?"

"No, thank you, headmaster. I'm fine."

Fawkes fluttered down from his perch and landed on Severus' shoulder.

"_You're looking surprisingly chipper considering we spent half the night chasing Tabitha and Serina through the Forbidden Forest_."

"_We're both used to staying up all night, bird. Especially after months of dealing with their nightly escapades_."

"_Are they sitting in detention_?"

"_As we speak_."

"_Weren't they already in detention for the meth you caught them with_?"

"_I believe they've racked up about two weeks worth of detention at the moment_."

Albus finished putting sugar and milk into his own tea cup and then sat back down behind his desk.

Clasping his hands on top of the piles of parchment and envelopes which constantly littered his desk, he smiled at his youngest professor.

"So, how are things in the dungeons?"

Severus grimaced. "They're going. Some things are better, some things are worse, but for the most part, everything is exactly the same."

"It is to be expected, my boy. They've been living life by their own rules for many years now and naturally it's difficult to swallow a lot of change at once. Give it time."

Putting his cup down, he glanced at Severus. "Have you given any thought about the ending of the year?"

"What about it?"

"Well, are there any students who you think you will be asking to leave?"

"Leave? I assumed they were all leaving for summer."

"Naturally, dear. I was speaking about a more permanent farewell."

Severus stared at him. "Permanent?"

"Yes."

"You want me to throw some of them out?"

"I don't _want_ you to do anything, Severus. I just want you to know that it's your choice to do so. If some of them show no signs of changing their behavior and only contribute negatively to your house and are bad role models, then by all means, you may ask them to leave. You will have my full backing, of course. The board of governors will need some persuading, but I am sure you won't make such decisions without having the necessary evidence so I'm not concerned."

Severus shifted in his chair. He remembered having threatened Serina and Tabitha with this very thing a few weeks ago, but the thought of actually carrying through with it left him feeling mildly ill. He couldn't abandon his Slytherins. There was no way.

"I will consider it, headmaster." He murmured, trying to sound as if the subject were now closed.

Albus gave him a sad smile and searched his face for a moment. Even if the old wizard knew Severus wasn't comfortable with the concept, he knew him well enough to let the subject drop for now.

"Alright then. I wanted to speak to you about the book."

Severus blinked, confused. "Book, sir? What book?"

Albus smiled and twirled his wand in mid air, and suddenly, a small, blue covered book appeared in thin air.

Severus immediately recognized it. It was the book he had stolen from master's bedroom many months ago. The theft which resulted in Kibby sacrificing her life to help them cover it up.

The headmaster gently opened it and slowly turned the brittle pages. "It took me a long time and many restorative charms to get it to look like this, and still, some of the text is indecipherable."

"Have you been able to decipher at least some of it?"

"Yes. At a first glance, it made little sense to me. Just the names of various objects and different places all over the world. Pages and pages of just names and locations."

Severus frowned. "Sir, it might just be random ramblings. The Dark Lord's mind has never been what one might call stable."

"Yes, but why write your ramblings down and why keep them so secretive?"

"A good point, headmaster. Do you have any theories?"

"These places and things are important to him. Some of them are written bolder than others and some have been circled and rewritten over several pages. I believe he was picking these things for some purpose and that purpose was very important to him."

"He never mentioned anything about this to me."

"I don't think he would have. Tom has his secrets, as I'm sure you're aware."

Severus noticed that the headmaster still used the present tense when talking about the Dark Lord and it made his stomach tighten uncomfortably.

"Do you have any idea when he will return, headmaster?"

"None. All we know is that Tom's soul is floating around in our world but is still too weak to inhabit a humanoid body. If it were strong enough, we would have heard from him by now. I believe he is bidding his time somewhere, trying to find ways to make himself stronger."

"Time itself would help him with that, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would. All we can do is wait and see and do as much preparation as we can."

Severus rubbed the sleeve covering his left forearm. He knew there was nothing on it that anybody could see, but he could still feel a faint burn underneath the skin and his left hand still retained some of that numbness that he had come to associate with something that didn't really belong to him.

He knew he would come back. He also knew what he would have to do when his master did return.

Albus reached out and took his right hand and squeezed it gently. "Rest assured, my child, that Tom will be gone for at least a few years. I have friends who are carefully monitoring the magical balance in our world at all hours of the day, and they have watched his power growing very, very slowly with no drastic changes. They estimate that it will be a while before Tom can return, and even that is assuming that nothing interferes with his efforts, which we will certainly try to do."

"But he will return. And it will all start again."

"Things will be different this time. We will have had years to prepare while his forces are scattered around the world, hiding or trying to do everything they can do live quiet, normal lives. Not to mention, we will have two major weapons to use against him without him really knowing about it."

"And those would be?"

"I will spend every moment of spare time investigating these locations and objects that Tom found so intriguing and trying to determine what he wanted with them. As for you, you and I both know that you are now raising the children who will later grow up to fight when the war starts again. It is your duty now to make sure they end up chosing the sides they really want to choose," Albus said, smiling. "So, let me worry about Tom's ramblings, and you worry about Slytherin house and let my trackers worry about Tom's whereabouts for now."


	7. Chapter 7

Path of Twinkling Dusk 

Chapter 7

'In the absence of doubt there is no change.'

- _Andromeda_, 'Attempting Screed'

April 14th, 1982

Hogwarts School

Striding up one row of desks, he glanced at the quietly bubbling cauldrons.

"Mr. Alanson, are you trying to heat the entire classroom?"

"No, sir."

"Then lower that flame before you set yourself on fire."

He watched as Cameron muttered the proper charm and abruptly extinguished his fire entirely. Severus would have removed points for such an error since he had spent every class since January teaching Alanson how to do fire alteration charms properly, but he was in too good of a mood to punish him.

Last night he had finally found a way to stop Serina and Tabitha's nightly escapades permanently. He had always hated the idea of locking them in their rooms, especially because he refused to prevent them from having access to the bathroom if they wanted it, but he was tired of getting up every half an hour and chasing them all around the school grounds.

So he had spent the weekend having a long conversation with the snakes guarding his common room door and carefully altered the charms they had on them.

The snakes had been told exactly who to watch out for and if any of these people snuck out, the snakes were to randomly change the password, not allowing the troublemakers to get back into the common room. Every morning, a piece of paper would land on Severus' pillow with the new password written on it and he would tell the rest of the house what it was when he went to make sure they were all up and to extinguish the firecrackers zooming around their rooms. Not only that, but he had put up one way shields on all the exits leading out of the dungeons, even the ones only Severus and a few of his Slytherins knew about. If Tabitha and company felt like sneaking out, they would be allowed to pass through the shields, but once they got tired and tried to come back in, they wouldn't be able to. He would have liked to make the shields completely unpenetrable, but knew for safety reasons that he couldn't block off his house's escape routes if something happened in the middle of the night.

He had put the finishing touches on his plan of attack three nights ago. The first two nights were spent following Tabitha and Serina around as they snuck out and paid visits to the astronomy tower, the bathroom, the Transfiguration classroom, the greenhouse and the lake before he followed them back inside and allowed them to discover that they weren't allowed into the dungeons. Not being idiots, they had run to all the possible entrances and found them all blocked. He had let them sit there for an hour before stepping forward and explaining his new additions to the house. They had complained, yelled, stomped their feet, threatened him with all sorts of things and then stormed back to the common room after he let them through the shields, only to find that they didn't have the correct password to get back into the common room. Severus had again explained the changes he had made and then allowed them inside, but warned them that he wouldn't be getting up every night to allow them to get back into bed and if they wanted to have a nice warm bed to sleep in, they would have to start getting used to staying in it.

By the third night, they stayed in the common room. They still stayed up most of the night, talking and listening to the radio, but after Severus put sound proofing charms on all the dormitories, allowing the other students to sleep, he let them be. As long as they weren't in any danger and weren't disturbing others, he didn't care how much sleep they got. He still forced them to get up in the mornings and if they were tired the entire day, that was their fault and not his.

Reaching the blackboard he spun around and demanded to know the next set of steps required for the potion they were brewing, when loud yelling could be heard from the corridor. Severus sighed, knowing his good mood was about to vanish.

Since the noise was coming from his own corridor, he knew that some of his Slytherins were involved and the situation wouldn't be resolved in a few minutes.

"Everybody step back from your cauldrons. We will continue in twenty minutes."

Immediately, everybody took a step backwards and Severus cast a tempus charm on all the desks, freezing everybody's caulrons and fires.

Not saying anything else, Severus hurried out of his classroom towards the source of the noise. The rest of his current class trailed out of the classroom, knowing better than to touch anything in the classroom without him being there.

Severus rounded the corner, hearing outraged yelling, the thuds and grunts of people fighting and the cheers of some bystanders.

Pushing through the crowd, he saw two Gryffindors on the ground, fighting with a blond haired Slytherin.

"Ms. Coolridge!" he yelled, whipping out his wand and tearing the three of them apart. The two Gryffindors immediately calmed down and he set them on the ground but Tabitha was still out of her mind, screaming with her fists and feet flying as he held her up in mid air, making sure she wouldn't catch anybody in the head with her flailing limbs.

Glancing at the crowd of spectators, he glared. "You all have two seconds to be somewhere else!" Not needing to be told twice, they all scattered.

Then he glared at the two Gryffindors on the floor.

"Mr. Thomson, Ms. Keyla, why did you feel it necessary to assault one of my Slytherins?"

"She started it, sir!"

"She did! She's mental!"

"We were just coming down to pick up people from potions class and she comes running around the corner and starts screaming at us—"

"She just went mental, sir. We didn't do anything to her!"

Wearily rubbing his temples, Severus nodded, knowing that they were probably telling the truth.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor for fighting in the hallway. Now get out of here."

The two Gryffindors quickly ran for the stairs, leaving the hallway deserted except for Severus and Tabitha, who was still hanging in mid air, screaming and clawing at the air.

Letting her drift downwards, Severus stepped a bit closer, being careful of her flying limbs.

"Ms. Coolridge, calm down. It's alright. They're gone."

"They took it! They took it!" she screamed, pointing in random directions, probably to indicate the two Gryffindors who had just run for it.

Her eyes were wild and her hair was in tangles hanging around her pale face and she was trembling madly, the wild flailing of her arms and legs not helping.

"They took it! They fucking took it and they won't give it back!" she screamed.

She stared at him, willing him to understand and to take her side and charge after them and demand they return the drugs which Severus himself had confiscate the night before.

"Ms. Coolridge, they didn't take anything from you. You are suffering from withdrawal and aren't thinking clea—"

"You took it!" she screamed, suddenly pointing a trembling finger at him and nodding madly.

"Ms. Coolridge—"

"You fucking bastard! You took it!"

Before Severus could take a step back, she lunged at him and they flew backwards and Severus hit the wall. Grimacing, he tried to grab her arms as they clawed at his face and robe, searching for something that wasn't there.

He didn't want to use magic on her and hurt her so he carefully grabbed both of her hands and forced them down to her side.

She still kept fighting him, twisting from side to side, spitting and snarling at him and trying to kick him.

After a few more minutes of trying to get her calm down without having any effect, Severus quietly murmured a sleeping charm and watched her go limp.

Catching hold of her before she fell over, he swung her thin body into his arms and carried her towards the common room.

The few Slytherins who were lounging around hardly glanced up as Severus swept by and went up the stairs, having seen this too many times to count.

He reached her room and put her into her bed and pulled the blankets up around her.

She still twitched in her sleep, dark circles around her eyes making them look sunken in her pale face. He knew that by morning she would have gotten someone to get her meth from somewhere and she would be high again.

But for now, she would get some much needed rest.

He sat down beside her, staring at her. Her words rang through his head, bringing back memories he had tried so hard to forget.

"_Give them to me," he snarled._

_Gorgon crossed his arms over his chest. "No."_

_Severus' last bit of control snapped. "Give them to me! You stupid, filthy creature! How dare you not give them to me!"_

"_What young master going to do, huh? Kill Gorgy like girl?" Gorgon yelled back. _

_Severus tightened his grip on his wand and pointed it straight at his elf. For a moment, both of them froze. _

_Severus forced his shaking hand to be steady. He stared at his elf, rage and a half mad glint in his dark eyes. "I'll do it, elf," he whispered. "If you don't give me my crystals right now, I'll do it."_

_Gorgon remained standing where he was, his arms crossed over his chest. He lifted his chin._

"_Fine. If that make young master happy, then fine. Do it. Kill Gorgy. Young master already a whore, a torturer and murderer anyway. If kill one elf, it not matter anymore."_

He blinked away the memories as Nadia wandered past him and sat down on Tabitha's bed, smiling down at her.

"I don't want her to get to that point, Nadia. I don't want her to kill someone because of the drugs. But I don't know how to stop it," he whispered.

Nadia just smiled at him, swinging her legs as she sat on the bed.

"She needing rehab."

Severus sighed, feeling his elf standing in the doorway.

"I know she does, but I can't force her to go if she doesn't want to. She'll just run off and do Merlin knows what on her own."

"She is danger to herself and other students, young master knows that."

"What the hell do you want me to do elf? She won't get better until she acknowledges that she has a problem and decides to get help. No amount of threats and yelling will do that. I mean, look at me! You know how far I had to go before I realized I had a problem."

Gorgon glanced over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being overheard and then stepped closer.

"Young master can only do what he can do. Miss Tabitha needing to realize she has problem on her own."

Severus buried his face in his hands. "That's not good enough, elf!"

Gorgon sighed. "Gorgy knows. But it all we can do."

April 23rd, 1982

Hogwarts School

Shrugging off his cloak, he tossed it onto a couch in the common room and then quietly extinguished the lamps around the room and made his way to the spiral staircase leading up to the boys dormitories.

He stopped before each door and cast a charm on it, making it transparent. Peering inside, he checked to make sure each bed contained the person it should and that there weren't any extra lumps under the covers or feet sticking out from under any beds.

Seeing that the room was silent and had the right people in it, he took the charm off the door and moved to the next room.

Looking inside, he saw two lumps under the covers with a small light shining. Sighing softly, he opened the door.

"Ms. Dayton, you have two seconds to get back into your own bed."

They both froze before the covers were thrown off and Carling glared at him. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Unless you'd like to take longer than two seconds and spend the next two days in detention," he said softly.

Leland nudged his sister and she huffed with irritation but got up and shuffled across the floor barefoot. Severus could see her shivering from the cold floor and when she passed by him, he took out his wand.

"Grab onto your shirt, Ms. Dayton," he said quietly. A flicker of a grin crossed her lips before she was back to rolling her eyes and sneering at him, but she grabbed onto the hem of her shirt and Severus levitated her up and floated her across the common room and deposited her gently on the ground before her own room.

While she flew, she was grinning but as soon as she landed, she shot him a glare and stomped into her own room.

"And a very good night to you as well," Severus murmured. Sticking his head back into Leland's room, he saw Leland putting scraps of parchment and colored pencils into his nightstand.

"Turn off the light, Mr. Dayton."

Leland nodded and switched off his little flashlight and stuffed it underneath his pillow.

Severus turned to go but stopped when he heard Leland whisper a 'Good night, Professor'. Pushing the door back open, he told him to go to sleep and have a good night as well and then shut the door and continued checking each room.

After two minor incidences involving Tabitha, Serina and Janus smoking meth in the girl's dormitory and a fifth year boy who he caught in bed with a third year, he had them all lined up for detention, had confiscated their drugs and had sent them all back to their own beds.

He just had the first year dorm to check. He peered through the transparent door and saw that Emma Treagle's bed was empty. Knowing she had probably gone down to the bathroom, he slowly wandered down the spiral staircase and grabbed his cloak, knowing she would be back before he left.

After ten minutes, he started to grow concerned. Deciding to check the small bathrooms in the common room before he started the usual hunt around the school, he knocked on the bathroom door.

"Ms. Treagle?"

He heard the sound of someone sniffing and shuffling around. "Y-Yes?" The voice sounded choked and full of tears.

Sighing, Severus pushed open the door. Emma sat in the corner by the stalls, a handful of tissue clutched in her hands and tears running down her face.

"Ms. Treagle, get off the floor at once. You'll catch a cold sitting there."

She stumbled to her feet and tried to hide the tissues behind her back.

"Why on earth are you in here?"

She sniffed and stared at the floor. "I w-was home-homesick," she whispered, still hiccuping from too much crying.

Severus stared at her, at a complete loss. Homesickness was something he had never had to deal with.

"Come out of the bathroom, Ms. Treagle."

She shuffled past him and he pointed at one of the chairs and she sat down, wiping some more tears off her cheeks and curling her toes as she stared at them.

He sat down across from her. "You were homesick?"

She nodded. "I—I miss my parents, sir."

"Your parents?"

"Yes, sir."

"I thought you had received an owl from them yesterday morning."

"I did."

"I fail to see the problem. They have obviously not forgotten about you."

She shook her head. "I know they haven't. I just really miss them. It's hard to sleep when they're so far away," she mumbled.

Severus blinked and tried to come up with something to say but found that he couldn't relate in the slightest possible way.

"Did you never get homesick, sir?"

"No."

"Oh."

They lapsed into silence once more. He desperately wished his elf were nearby but he didn't want to call for him and have a discussion over what to do right infront of Emma. So he did the next best thing.

"_Bird_!"

No answer.

"_Bird_!"

"_W-What? Severus? What on earth is the matter? Is everyone alright_?"

"_Emma Treagle is homesick_."

"_What_?"

"_She is homesick and I have no idea what to do. Help me, damn it_."

"_You woke me up at two thirty in the morning because somebody is homesick_!"

"_Yes. Now help me. I look like an idiot sitting here and not saying anything. Should I let her floo her parents_?"

"_Unless you want to make it a nightly ritual, no. Let her floo them in the morning_."

"_Then what do I do_?"

"_Give her a sleeping draught or put a sleeping charm on her_."

He nodded. Why the hell hadn't he thought of that?

"_Because I'm a brilliant Gryff and you're not. Are we done or are there other emergencies needing my attention_."

"_Shut up and go back to sleep_."

Grumbling, the phoenix's voice faded from his head and Severus turned back to Emma.

"Ms. Treagle, if you wish, I can let you floo your parents tomorrow morning and speak with them. As for tonight, I can put a sleeping charm on you or give you a sleeping potion. Which would you prefer?"

She shrugged. "Whatever will make me sleep, sir."

"Alright. Follow me." Standing up, he moved across the common room floor and climbed back up to her room with Emma at his heels.

When they reached her bed, she lay down, pulled the covers up and Severus put his hand to her forehead.

"What will I dream about, sir?" she whispered.

"Nothing, Ms. Treagle. That's the point of sleeping charms. You won't have any dreams."

"Oh. That's rather boring, sir."

"I don't know any interesting sleeping charms, Ms. Treagle."

"Are there interesting ones?"

"I'm not sure. I will look it up tomorrow if you wish. Remind me."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, close your eyes."

She did and he murmured the charm and watched until she had fallen asleep. Then he pulled her covers up more and quietly let himself out of the room.

XXXXXX

He spent the next day sitting in his classroom, supervising his usual troublemakers, marking essays, helping the random people who passed through his classroom with homework questions, and leafing through large texts from the library and his own room, trying to find 'interesting' sleeping charms.

Finally, he found a potion which could be modified slightly. A complex charm needed to be applied to the sleeping potion while it was being made and the individual using the potion would have to think of things they wanted to dream about right before ingesting it. The charm would allow the individual to sleep the entire night through and dream about the things they had thought of, helping the person's subconscious turn those things into a pleasant dream.

Figuring his troublemakers could do with some participation, he had them all help him gather up supplies and then he brewed a batch of the potion in his classroom. Some of his Slytherins drifted in during the day, quietly watching him brew and fetching things he needed. After he had tested it that night on Gabby, he put it into small vials and from that day on, always made sure to carry a few in his robes while making his nightly rounds, just in case somebody wasn't tired or was homesick.

In the middle of his brewing, Cameron Alanson discreetly slid a copy of that day's Prophet onto his desk and then turned around, not saying a word about it.

Severus frowned but pulled the paper closer and read the large headline.

"_Death Eater Jugson caught in Brazil! Prosecutor Crouch asking for Kiss_!"

Careful to keep his smile off his face, Severus turned the paper over and pushed it to the side, not wanting to start an argument amongst his Slytherins again.


	8. Chapter 8

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 8

A/N: This is a re-post of Chapter 8. I added one last scene towards the end that wraps up Snape's first year of teaching. The next chapter starts with the summer and goes through his second year of teaching.

'Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.'

- Albert Camus

May 17th, 1982

Hogwarts School

"Guess how many now, Sevvie?"

"Three?"

"No."

"Seven?"

"No."

"I give up. How many?"

"Twelve!"

"Twelve? Bella, you don't have twelve fingers. I told you using toes was cheating."

"I'm not using toes! There's a rat and I'm using its fingers. That's not cheating."

"Fine. Give me another one."

"Okay. Guess how many?"

"Two."

A loud squeal of laughter. "No!"

Severus bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from laughing as he finished cleaning up his classroom for the night. Bella never got tired of their little games and Severus knew she was bored so he indulged her, just as long as she only did it after he opened their bond.

A few weeks ago, Bella had started loudly singing while he was in the middle of giving instructions. It had shocked him so badly that he had dropped the cauldron he had been holding and leapt back a foot. The entire class had stared at him as if he was nuts and he snapped at them to get to work, after which he yelled at Bella to shut up and then carefully explained that it wasn't appropriate for her to disturb him while he was teaching. She had felt terrible and apologized over and over again and insisted he let her sing him a song about that very subject, after which she had promised to only bother him when he opened their bond.

He finished putting the lid back onto a jar of worms and then closed the supply cupboard, making a mental note to send a message to Xavier that he needed more newts and dragon liver.

Leaving his classroom, he checked the time and slowly made his way to the common room to turn off the lights and start his usual rounds.

He reached the second year dorm and only had to glance in before he realized that Tabitha and Serina were both missing. Cursing inwardly, he leaned over the railing and scanned the common room. Not seeing them, he sighed. Spying Miranda Welton coming out of the bathroom in her pajamas, clutching her toothbrush in her hand, he yelled down to her.

"Ms. Welton!"

"Yes, sir?"

"Did you see Ms. Rigel and Ms. Coolridge in the bathroom?"

"No, sir."

Cameron Alanson looked up from where he was climbing the staircase to the boy's dorms. "Sir, I saw them leave the common room about ten minutes ago. They both looked terrible."

Severus swore quietly. "Were they tweaking?"

"It looked like it, sir."

"Thank you. Get to bed, all of you."

He spent ten minutes in the common room, yelling at people to hurry up and levitating the slow ones up to their rooms. The very slow ones got a quick lesson in magical teethbrushing which left them sputtering toothpaste, but Severus was in too much of a hurry.

When they were all in their right rooms, Severus ran out of the common room, grabbed his cloak and summoned some of Tabitha and Serina's clothing from their rooms to do a quick locator spell with them.

The glowing balls of light immediately rose from the clothes and went zipping through corridors, up stairs and around corners. Severus ran after them, yelling for Fawkes and Gorgon, who quickly joined in the search.

Having Serina and Tabitha running around the school while they were high wasn't usually a threat to anybody else. They just threw things around, burned furniture or giggled nonstop about mundane things. But having them running around the school looking for drugs while tweaking was dangerous. There was absolutely no telling what they were going to do and to whom.

He followed the glowing balls of light up to the main hall and then out the front doors. He started getting worried as the balls passed by the greenhouses, the lake and didn't go anywhere near the Forbidden Forest, but instead, came to a grinding halt before the gates.

Grabbing the steel bars, Severus swore as he gasped for breath and stared out into the darkness beyond the gate.

"Shit."

Gorgon stared around himself wide eyed, trying to see through the darkness surrounding them. "Locator spell not work past gate, right?"

"Unfortunately. Shit."

The headmaster had designed the brilliant locator spell long ago, back when he had been a professor and had needed to chase after his own wandering students. The unfortunate limit to the spell was that it only worked on Hogwarts grounds, the spell using the ancient magic of the school itself to work.

"Bird, can you sense them at all?"

"I don't have any connection to them, Severus. I'm sorry. Should we spread out and search?"

"They could be anywhere. It would take too long. I have a better idea." Turning around, he ran back to the school and down the corridors and the stairs until he reached the common room again.

Not pausing, he raced up to the boy's dormitories and paused before Janus' room. Pushing open the door, he wasn't surprised to find the lights on and all of the sixth and seventh year boys and some girls lounging around.

Janus Altair was lying on one of the beds, laughing at something.

"Mr. Altair, come over here."

Janus slowly stopped laughing and blinked up at him. "Fuck off."

"You will either get over here or I will make you. Now."

"Which part of 'fuck off' didn't you get?"

Luther Prescott laughed loudly, but immediately shut up when Severus pulled out his wand and yanked Janus off the bed and out into the hallway.

Slamming the door shut, Severus glared down at him.

"Where did Ms. Coolridge and Ms. Rigel go?"

A lazy shrug. "I don't know. They said they'd be back soon."

"Where did they go?"

"Somewhere."

Severus' temper was starting to flare. He struggled to keep control of it, but felt it rapidly slipping. Serina and Tabitha could be breaking into somebody's home or could have stumbled into the lake and drowned by now. Severus knew that Janus knew where they might have gone.

"I'm not playing games with you, Mr. Altair! Where are they?!"

Janus' lazy grin disappeared and an angry scowl replaced it. "It's none of your business where they are! They went to score and you have no right to stop them!"

"You are trying my patience, Mr. Altair. I want to know who your dealer is and where you normally meet him and I want to know now!"

"Fuck off! It's none of your business. I'm no rat!"

Severus wanted to grab him and shake him until his teeth fell out, but restrained himself. Instead, he made a decision he realized he would probably regret, but knew he didn't really have a choice.

Grabbing Janus' shoulders and holding him in place, he hissed "Legilimens!" and stared into Janus' eyes. For one split second, he berated himself for trying a spell he had never attempted before and had only ever been on the receiving end of and for trying it on a student of all people, but then his mind tore into Janus' and the force of it made him stop breathing. He wasn't prepared for the explosion of images, madly swirling around Janus' mind. He felt himself drowning in the sixth years mind, before he felt a strong tug on his own mind and then felt everything around him slowing down.

He allowed the strange presence to keep a tight hold on his own mind and slow down the images racing through Janus' mind until he could see separate events in no particular order. Janus laughing with Tabitha. A younger Janus racing down a set of stairs. Janus sitting in detention staring at the far wall.

"Let me guess. You're looking for something specific but you have no idea how to go about it."

"Bird, what the hell do I do?"

"Concentrate on breathing and let me handle it. Ordinarily I'd yank you both apart, but we're here so we might as well get what we need."

"I want to see who he gets his meth from and where."

"Alright. Think about Janus buying drugs. No, don't look for it. Just think about it. Good. Now Janus' own memories of it will drift towards you. If nothing comes, then he hasn't bought any. Ah, there we are. Well, well, well. If that isn't a familiar face."

Severus' blood ran cold as he stared at the fragment of memory. Janus sat hunched over a table, speaking to an older man sitting across from him. From the state of the table and the surroundings, Severus knew they were in the Hog's Head. The man was smiling and nodding and Janus was gesturing wildly. Severus waited until he saw Janus drop a few coins onto the table and the man stuck his hand into his robes and pulled out a packet of white powder.

Severus stared at the man, not even needing to see him clearly to recognize him. It was Jib. The same scum who used to sell drugs to Death Eaters and had nearly caused the deaths of a quite a few of them by selling them cheap, impure drugs that their users hadn't bothered to purify first. What was more, Severus had warned Jib not to sell to his Slytherins anymore.

"Bird, get me out of here."

Fawkes helped pull him out of Janus' mind. Severus felt so drained that he and Janus nearly fell into each other. Blinking and shaking his head to clear it, Severus stood up.

Janus was blinking and staring around, obviously confused.

"I obliviated him before we pulled out, Severus. He doesn't remember a thing."

"Good."

Turning away from Janus, Severus yelled for his elf to watch the common room before he ran out of the common room, knowing exactly where he was going and what he would find.

XXXXXX

Reaching the gate, he pushed it open and immediately thought of the Hog's Head and apparated straight to it. He immediately pulled his hood over his head and kept his chin down. He knew it was past nine o'clock and he was breaking his curfew by being off school grounds, but he wasn't leaving his Slytherins out here alone with the likes of Jib. Besides, even if anybody at the Hog's Head recognized him, they wouldn't call the MLE since they would probably be neck deep in some illicit business of their own and calling attention to Severus would mean calling attention to themselves as well, and they weren't that stupid. There were certain benefits to slums like the Hog's Head.

For one moment, memories came back to him of him and Evans practicing apparating in a field beside the lake and then riding their Thestrals to the Hog's Head for warm drinks. As soon as he thought of it, he remembered who else he had met there and started having drinks with and all the joy from those memories vanished.

Pushing the door of the dingy pub open, his eyes immediately scanned the people sitting around the dimly lit pub. His heart leapt into his throat when he didn't see either of his Slytherins.

He marched up to the bar and glared at the barkeep. "I'm looking for two young girls from the school. One's a blond and the other a brunette."

The barkeep gave him a leering grin. "You've got to get in line."

"Excuse me?"

"Jib was clear about it. If you want a turn, you're going to have to wait in line like everyone else."

Severus' blood ran cold. Lifting his hand, he sent the barkeeper slamming against the wall behind him, shattering dirty glasses.

"Those girls are twelve years old!" he hissed.

The barkeep's eyes widened. "I had no idea, I swear to you!"

"Do you know who I am?"

"No, sir. Sorry, sir."

"I am Professor Severus Snape. Perhaps you recognize the name."

"M-Master Snape, sir?"

"That's right."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir. I-I didn't mean any disrespect."

"You're allowing men to use my students in exchange for drugs. I would call that a grave disrespect."

"I-I, sir, please, I didn—"

"You will never again let an underage student into this establishment, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, yes."

"I will be checking up on you, and if I find you have failed to abide by my request, I will make your life very unpleasant, very quickly."

Twisting his hand, Severus spun the barkeep in the air and sent him slamming down on the ground ontop of a mess of spilled drinks and broken glasses.

Turning around, he ran for the stairs leading up to the dirty rooms above the pub. Reaching the first one, he flicked his hand at the door and watched it bang open. Finding the room empty, he went to the next one. This one was occupied by a snoring drunk who hadn't quite made it to the bed before passing out and Severus left him and threw open the third door.

He found Serina lying on the bed, her robes pushed up to her neck and her underwear around her ankles. Her eyes were barely open and she was pale and limp, obviously high, one of her arms dangling off the edge of the bed.

Tabitha was kneeling on the floor in front of a chair, in which a sprawled out Jib sat, his robes undone and his head leaning against the back of the chair, his mouth open and his eyes closed.

Rage consumed Severus and he flicked his hand at Tabitha, yanking her face out of Jib's lap. Then Severus tightened his hand into a fist and yanked Jib out of his chair by his throat and left him dangling mid air, legs flailing, choking for breath and his eyes flying wide open.

"Ms. Coolridge, close up your robes."

Tabitha sat on the floor, staring up at him with half closed, sleepy eyes, obviously too high to understand him. She swayed slightly, her hair in wild tangles around her pale face.

Severus turned his attention to the still choking scum hanging in mid air.

"Good evening, Mr. Jib. I trust you remember who I am."

The choking man couldn't draw enough breath to answer but his eyes widened even more and he looked terrified.

"I warned you never to sell drugs to my Slytherins, did I not?"

Tabitha suddenly giggled and then went back to staring at nothing, a smile on her face. Severus didn't know if she was laughing at the situation, herself or what he had said or nothing in particular but he ignored her for the time being.

"Where in that warning did you think I gave you permission to use my students as whores? How dare you lay a finger on twelve year old girls, never mind sell them to other people?!"

His voice had risen as rage consumed him. Moving his hand, he sent Jib flying into the far wall with a sickening thud and then flew him across the room to hit the other wall, at which point he released him and Jib crumbled to the floor, gasping for breath, coughing and his slimy little body shaking.

"I-I'm so sorry, Master Snape…I didn—"

"Do you think I am interested in your whining, Jib? I warned you months ago and you choose to ignore my warnings."

"They—they came to m-m-me, Master Snape."

"Do you think I care?!" he roared, sweeping an arm and sending Jib smashing into the wall again. "I will give you one more chance, Jib. After this, if I hear even a whisper of a rumor that you sold drugs to any student or engaged in any inappropriate activity with any student, I will kill you. Do you understand me, Jib?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir. Definitely. No more students. I swear."

"Good. Now. Since a mere verbal warning didn't seem to help you, I will try to make this one more memorable."

Spreading his hands, he sent a strong curse towards Jib and then twisted his hand, wrapping it around him. It was a very strong and painful dark curse. It clung like a burr to a person's skin, enveloping them in constant pain from head to toe, and would be amplified if a person moved even the slightest.

Jib cried out as he moved his arm slightly and then curled up, whimpering and shaking.

"Stop…make it stop….please…make it stop…"

"You seemed to have difficulty understanding the concept of stopping something when you were asked, Mr. Jib. I hope that by the time the curse wears off, you will appreciate the essence of the word 'stop'. Oh, yes, the curse won't be permanent. It'll last about three days, during which you will be in constant pain. Try not to move around very much, since the effects are amplified by any muscles which are moved."

Turning away from the pitifully sobbing scum, Severus went to the bed and gently pulled Serina's clothes on right and then levitated her. She only moaned softly, but other than that, gave no indication that she knew what was going on. Turning to Tabitha, he levitated her too and walked towards the door, keeping them floating behind him.

As soon as he was outside, he asked Fawkes to apparate all three of them back to the gates, which the phoenix promptly did. He hurried up the front lawn and into the school and down to his dungeons.

He didn't pause until he had put Tabitha and Serina into bed and checked the rest of his dorms to make sure everyone else was still sleeping.

He spent the rest of the night sitting in his office, staring at the far wall, feeling as if something precious was slipping through his very fingers and he had no idea how to stop it.

"How did it come to this point, elf?" he whispered softly.

Gorgon stared at him with sad eyes. "It not anybody's fault but drugs. Young master knows this. Mind and body start living solely to feed addiction and not care about anything else. It like most terrible disease, since no cure except stopping. And young master knowing how difficult that is."

Severus closed his eyes, seeing shimmering green crystals behind his eyes, dancing through his mind. Just at the thought, his hands started shaking and a headache threatened to erupt in his head. Gorgon was right. His body and mind had become enslaved by the drugs and had battled a hard won freedom, but would never truly be free from its grasp.

He wished he could somehow force Serina and Tabitha to stop and realize what their addiction had reduced them to, but knew that he could talk all he wanted. There was nothing he could do until they realized they had a problem.

May 27th, 1982

Hogwarts School

Struggling not to yawn, Severus tried to pretend that he was listening to what the headmaster was saying but found himself too exhausted to put in the necessary effort.

Albus stopped mid sentence and gave his youngest professor and head of house a small smile.

"Well, I can tell when I've lost my audience."

"Please, pardon my inattentiveness, headmaster. I don't mean to be rude. The house is just exhausting me at the moment."

"Are you certain it's the house and not just a few select Slytherins?"

Severus glanced at him. "They're a part of the house as much as I am."

"I never said they weren't, dear. I take it you had another late night?"

Severus sighed.

"I thought you had assigned elves to tail them wherever they go?"

"I have. Gabrielle and Rudolph both follow them everywhere, but they say they're tired of having to use all their power to physically restrain them from leaving the school grounds and having to put up with Ms. Rigel's and Ms. Coolridge's abuse every minute of everyday. It's not fair that I force them to continue since they are my responsibility and not the elves."

"What else do you have in mind?"

Severus shrugged wearily and let his head fall back onto the back of the chair. "I don't know. I just don't know. I can use magic to keep them in the school but I can't tie them to their beds or follow them every minute of everyday, and as soon as my back is turned, they're getting into fights, tearing things apart and getting into screaming fits with other students who they think have some meth that they're hiding. I'm tired, headmaster and I don't know what to do anymore."

"Then perhaps it's time to let them go."

Severus slowly opened his eyes and sat up straight, letting the words filter into his mind.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I think it's time that you let them go, Severus."

"Go? Headmaster, with all due respect, has senility finally set in? If I let them go, they'll run to the streets and die of an overdose within a week."

Albus smiled sadly. "I remember a young boy, very intelligent, but angry and lonely. He was convinced that the path he was on was the right one for him. I knew different. I knew that only death, pain and sorrow lay on that path, but no matter what I said, he didn't believe me. I tried and tried, but the more I tried, the more he became convinced that I was trying to keep him from something wonderful, that I was manipulating him, and he listened less and less. At the end, the only thing I could do was let him go. It was the most difficult thing I had ever done, but I had to. And then all I could so was sit here and hope that the young boy would realize on his own what a terrible choice he had made. I made sure he knew that if he ever changed his mind, there would be a place for him here, and I desperately hoped that he would come back. It wasn't an uncommon scenario, back then and now and probably always. Some do come back, but most are lost forever, but none even have the chance to see what a mistake they've stumbled into until we let them go. As long as you are holding their leash, they focus all their attention on ripping it out of your hand. They don't see what surrounds them, what kind of a mess you're trying to keep them from stumbling into. They'll only see it, if you let go."

Severus quietly stared at the headmaster. A large part of him wanted to shrug it off, say it wasn't the same thing and if he just kept nagging and yelling and yanking their leash, that Tabitha and Serina would finally start to see what was right in front of their faces, but he knew deep down that the headmaster was right.

"I don't know if I can do it, headmaster."

"As I said, letting you go was the most difficult thing I had ever done. But I knew that I had to, if there was any chance of saving you."

Severus took a deep breath and stared at the older man. "I know I've said it before, but I'm sorry. I put you through everything that Serina and Tabitha have put me through, only worse. Serina and Tabitha never liked me to begin with, but you are my father and I convinced myself that I hated you because I believed you hated me. I know, of course that that isn't true, it never was, but I'm still sorry."

"Don't apologize, my child. In your case, it was Lucius and Tom who manipulated you and twisted your thoughts, and in Serina and Tabitha's cases, it was Jib and the others like him, and of course, the drug itself that twisted them onto the path they are now on."

Albus reached forward and took one of Severus' hands in his own. "Let them go, Severus. Tell them that they will always have a place here but only if they've straightened out."

"And then what?"

"Then you hope and wait."

June 12th, 1982

Hogwarts School

Glancing up from the pile of homework he was busy marking, he saw the three of them slowly shuffling in through his office door.

"Sit down, all of you."

They threw themselves into chairs, muttering and rolling their eyes.

After they were seated, Severus moved his pile of papers over and reached into his desk drawer and pulled out three small sheets of parchment.

"I am here to inform you that as of the end of the school year, you are all three expelled from Hogwarts School."

They stared at him blankly. Janus laughed, obviously thinking he was joking. Tabitha yawned and Serina's glare fought with the confused frown she was trying to hide.

"What?"

He reached across his desk and handed them all their official expulsion letters.

"In these letters, you will see that you have been officially expelled from the school and are not to return to the school grounds as of June 24th."

Tabitha's bored look turned into an angry frown as she realized what he was saying. "Where the hell am I supposed to go?"

"A very good question, Ms. Coolridge. First off, you all have homes you can go to and live at. Yes, Ms. Coolridge, I'm aware you live in a group home, but other people manage to live year round in such facilities so you'll pardon me if I don't think of them as torture chambers. Secondly, you are all welcome to apply to other magical schools, but believe me, as soon as they see that you have been expelled from Hogwarts, you'll have a very difficult time being accepted, especially if you intend to carry forward your present attitudes and work ethic. Thirdly, you can do the sensible thing, check yourselves into rehab and once you have successfully completed a rehabilitation program and are clean and can demonstrate to me and the board of governors that you deserve another chance, there might be the option of allowing you to return and get a proper education. Other than that, you can go wherever the hell you want because you are no longer my responsibility."

"You can't just throw us out!"

"On the contrary, Ms. Rigel. I can and I just did. I am sick and tired of having to spend every moment of my time dealing with you three and having to fight for my house's reputation when you three don't appreciate what it means to belong to a house or go to an elite institution such as this one. By removing you, I will be making room for others who deserve to be here and I will be removing some of your influence and hopefully, the house can start improving."

Tabitha stuck her chin out. "And what if we don't leave?"

"The board of governors has allowed me to use any force I deem necessary in removing you from the school. Believe me, I will have you sitting outside the gates come the twenty-fourth. Having said that, I will give you all a list of good, reputable and clean rehabilitation clinics, and as I said, if you can prove to me that you want to belong to this school and this house and that you deserve another chance, I will give it to you. But make no mistake, I know what it means to have to fight for a second chance and I will not be easy to persuade. Unless you grow to appreciate what it really means to have a second chance and the work you will have to put into it for the rest of your lives, you can all go to hell as far as I'm concerned."

All three of them glared at him, pushed themselves to their feet and stormed out of his office, their letters lying abandoned on the floor where they had thrown them.

Severus took a deep breath and stared at the door through which they had walked out.

Now all he could do was wait and hope.

June 24th, 1982

Hogwarts School

The majority of his house was glaring daggers at him and he glared right back, not giving them an inch.

"These expulsions aren't a joke, ladies and gentlemen. They are taken very seriously and will be enforced very seriously as well. Ms. Coolridge, Ms. Rigel and Mr. Altair will no longer be allowed on school grounds from the moment I ensure they step foot off it."

He ignored the glares the three of them and their friends sent his way.

"Furthermore, anybody who doesn't wish to rethink their attitude and work ethic over the summer shouldn't bother coming back in the fall. From now on, I will be making it my mission to pull Slytherin house's reputation out of the muck where it has been festering for years. Anyone I believe is detrimental to that mission and prevents other students from doing their best will no longer be welcome. Many of you still seem to think that this school is a hotel and merely exists for you to lounge around and party in, but from now on, I will ensure that all students who are in this house know what is expected of them and will do their best to live up to those expectations."

Tessa Corvax narrowed her eyes at him. "You're such a fucking prick."

"And you, Ms. Corvax are welcome not to come back in the fall unless that attitude of yours changes, or you will find yourself expelled within the hour of you stepping foot off the train." Looking over the rest of them, he raised his chin. "Any questions?"

Cameron Alanson stuck up a tentative hand.

"Mr. Alanson?"

"Uh, sir, what if we do want to do our best and come back but we're just really behind academically? I mean, I'm supposed to be in seventh year next year and I know I don't have what it takes to tackle NEWTS."

"Rest assured, Mr. Alanson, that I will ensure you receive the education you need in order to successfully graduate. However, I can't guarantee that you will be graduating next year, but if you wish to write your NEWTS, I will make sure that you have the knowledge you need."

"Cool, sir."

"Anything else?"

Nobody raised their hands. "Fine then. Please finish packing up your belongings and make your way to the train within the hour. I am expecting your dorm rooms to be tidy and clean once you've left, and as I said, if you don't intend on treating this place like a school and working hard, then save yourself the trip on the express come the fall. I am tired of not being able to defend my own house when people speak in a derogatory manner about it and mark my words, I intend on seeing that change."

Stepping back, he moved towards the common room door. Nearing the exit, he saw Carling leaning against the wall, glaring and hissing at her brother beside her. Leland was giving Severus anxious looks and was madly whispering to Carling.

"Is there something you needed, Ms. Dayton?"

She lifted her chin and gave her brother a dirty look. "Not really, sir—"

Leland piped up from beside her. "Yes, sir, there is. Ask him, Carling. Come on!"

It was the most outspoken and demanding that Severus had ever seen the normally quieter twin.

"Shut up, Leland! It doesn't matter. It's not like he gives a shit," she hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"Allow me to be the judge on what I do and don't care about, Ms. Dayton."

Carling sighed while Leland elbowed her hard and mumbled 'you see?' at her.

She seemed to be debating something but then crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "Like I said, it's nothing, sir." Turning, she grabbed her protesting brother by the arm and pulled him towards the stairs leading up to the dorms.

"Ms. Dayton?"

She paused, sighed loudly and turned back. "What?"

"You know where to find me if you should change your mind before the train comes. That goes for you too, Mr. Dayton."

Leland opened his mouth but Carling shot him a glare, shushed him and continued dragging him up the stairs.

Severus watched them go, hoping they would ask what they wanted to before it was time for them to go home. He had repeatedly tried to ask them about their home situation but Leland always got scared and quiet and Carling got loud and defensive. He told them repeatedly that if they would just tell him what was going on, then he could arrange for them to stay at the school over summer, but Carling had still stubbornly shaken her head and refused to allow Leland to say anything.

And with the glares of his house digging into his back and the tight feeling in his chest at the thought of Carling not trusting him enough to allow him to help her and her brother, his first term as a teacher came to an end.


	9. Chapter 9

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 9

A/N: SURPRISE!! Yes, I know, it's a miracle. I would apologize for the long delay, but apologies aren't really adequate for leaving a story for EIGHT MONTHS. Like I said many months ago, my HP muse lay dormant for a while (replaced by an SGA one), but when the release of Book 7 started becoming a reality and not just something to happen in the far distant future, the muse abruptly woke up and has been working non-stop since.

I reposted Chapter 8 since I had one last scene to put in to finish off that year, and this chapter launches right into summer and the following year. I'm writing at a break-neck speed and I promise updates will be frequent. I can't promise I'll be done before Book 7 is out, but it will be finished (even if canon bites me in the rear and it turns out that I've been really, really wrong about Snape).

'Ought implies can'

- Immanuel Kant

Summer, 1982

Hogwarts School

The moment the last student had dragged their suitcase out of the castle and into the waiting carriages, Severus collapsed in his office chair.

"Elf, we're leaving for the Arctic within the hour."

Gorgy chuckled and leaned against the doorframe. "Gorgy getting ready. We already knowing many good heating charms so thick clothes not high necessity."

Myrtle frowned down at him from his top shelf. "I don't think you did badly at all, Severus. Now that you've gotten rid of those three trouble-makers, the rest of them might start coming around. And not all of them are monsters. That Emma girl is quite sweet and she goes to class."

"That's one out of hundreds, Myrtle."

"I didn't say she was the only one."

Severus waved a dismissive hand at her. "Who cares, Myrtle? I spent the entire term fixing one crack in the cauldron only to have fifty others spring up."

Fawkes stopped preening himself and tilted his head at him. "_So quit trying to fix an old cauldron and build an entirely new cauldron._"

Severus swivelled in his chair and stared at the bird. "What?"

"_You've got the entire summer to come up with a new game plan. You'll have the advantage when September comes, since none of the students will know what to expect, and you will. You caught them off guard and threw them out of their comfort zone when you expelled those three. You have to take advantage of that._"

Severus bit his lip, thinking it over. "We need a new game plan. With all of our heads together we ought to come up with something."

Gorgon nodded and Myrtle frowned. "I don't know anything about running a bunch of unruly Slytherins."

"Do I look like I've got tons of experience, Myrtle? You know more about school things than I do."

He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair and started thinking. "Elf, put up an enormous piece of parchment across that wall and I'll get an auto-quill. And then we start thinking of ways to fix this house."

XXXXXX

They quickly came up with a list of things that needed to be improved.

To start with, only a few of the students were in their appropriate years knowledge wise. None of the fifth years or seventh years had gone to attempt their OWLs or NEWTs, in fact only a small handful had gone to final exams at all. And out of those that had, only a tiny number could advance to the next year.

Most of them didn't go to class, and the ones who did were so far behind that they couldn't keep up anyway and had stopped trying years ago.

None of them cared about what the rest of the school or the rest of the world thought of their house. To them, being in Slytherin house was just something the Sorting Hat had shouted out to them and determined which common room they lazed around in. It wasn't far off from what Severus had originally thought of his house, so he couldn't really blame them. It wasn't as if Bodin had been a prime example of a Slytherin.

Once they finished putting those things down, Myrtle interrupted them to say that Slytherin house didn't have a Quidditch team either. Severus and Gorgon had both frowned at her, demanding to know what the hell a Quidditch team was. She had stared at them like they had suddenly turned into mushrooms. Then she launched into a lengthy explanation complete with lots of hand waving that finally clued Severus in that this was that boring waste of time Potter used to play.

He had never watched a Quidditch match during his years at school. Why go outside during a period that always ensured the library was deserted? The only other mention of Quidditch he had heard of in recent years was that damn exercise the Dark Lord had made based on 'chasers' or whatever the things were called.

Myrtle had rolled her eyes and said it's a small wonder he didn't know what she was talking about and that explained why Slytherin hadn't had a proper team in about ten years.

Severus was appalled to hear that not only hadn't his house competed in this…this thing for years, but that nobody had minded. The Slytherins had slowly dropped out of the team until there weren't enough players. Nobody in the school cared that there was one less team to compete against, and Slytherin house had quietly been forgotten about during Quidditch matches.

Severus got the auto-quill to write Quidditch in enormous letters on their list. That was something he would definitely have to address.

Then he leaned back and looked over their list. They had many problems on that list, but very few solutions. Most of the Slytherins knew their parents had enormous inheritances and trust funds and marriages lined up for them once they decided to stop attending school so it was a small wonder none of them cared about graduating, going to class or playing Quidditch.

He needed to find something to motivate them. Something to make them all want to do better and drag their house out of the muck it was currently stuck in.

It was Myrtle who glanced up, pushed her glasses up her nose and said: "What about the Cups?"

"What cups?"

"The House and the Quidditch Cups, silly. I know a lot of kids who don't want to do their homework or do well in class but they knew they'll lose points from their house for it. If they lost too many points, they'd lose the Cup."

Severus stared at her, thinking she was definitely onto something. He remembered about house points, of course. He had been among the very few in his time to earn his house any points, but he had never gone to the award feast or cared about those hour glasses standing in the main hall.

"When was the last time Slytherin house won the House Cup, bird?"

Fawkes stared at him and snorted. "_Is that a joke_?"

"I'm serious, bird."

"_Honestly, I can't remember. At least fifteen years. The house won it a handful of times when Slughorn was here but he seemed to lose interest later on and so did the house. Bodin spent too much time just trying to hide to worry about the Cup._"

"And we've obviously not won the Quidditch Cup in a long time too."

"_Well, seeing as you need an actual team to qualify, no._"

Severus slammed his fists onto his chair. "That's it then."

Gorgon blinked at him. "What?"

"The Cups. That's what we'll use. None of them want to do well for themselves or for their peers, so we'll make them do it for the house."

"Young master, Gorgy not really understanding."

Severus grinned, his eyes glinting. "We're going to win those Cups, elf. Both of them."

XXXXXX

The rest of the summer was spent anxiously getting ready for September.

Severus and Gorgon sat down with long lists of Slytherin students and their recent grades—or lack of them—and moved them around until everybody was in a year that might be within their realistic grasp. He didn't care that he hardly had any seventh or sixth years and that the lower years would be clogged. If any of them advanced fast enough, he'd move them up. Besides, so many of them were moving to the lower years with their friends that Severus doubted they really cared. None of them were friends with anybody in the other houses, so it wouldn't matter very much.

Gorgon and him determined that they would have tutorials every night after dinner in the potions classroom to help the students do homework and get some of the very behind ones up to speed on basic spells and concepts.

Then the issue of Quidditch came up. Severus went out to the Quidditch pitch with Gorgon and one of the old second hand brooms from the shed and spent a few precarious hours learning how to fly on a broom. It was different than being on a Thestral; a broom was much more responsive, but also more difficult to balance on. Myrtle and Fawkes sat on the far off Keeper hoops, watching and cheering, though quietly, not to wake anybody in the castle.

They repeated this every night until term started, and by that time, Severus was fairly certain he could fly around during Quidditch practice without embarrassing himself.

He went down to the library and took out an enormous book about Quidditch, carefully studying the rules, famous plays and good drills to use. He even got Gabby to go and ask Professor McGonagall some leading questions about how she drilled her Gryffindor team and report back to him.

Through it all, Severus didn't allow his fears about the upcoming school year to slow him down. They had a goal now and a means to achieve it.

XXXXXX

While Severus immersed himself with Hogwarts business, the world outside the castle walls dragged on, as it always had.

The headmaster called him into his office one day late in August to say that their efforts at finding evidence against many former Death Eaters were hitting dead ends.

Since Bella's trail, Crouch had been forced to calm his brutal butchery of the justice system at the threat of being fired. Since then, the old sentencing hearings had been replaced by normal trials, with the accused Death Eaters getting defense lawyers and the aurors requiring hard evidence before apprehending someone.

As a result, dozens of Death Eaters slipped through the cracks, coasting through leading questions with confused polite frowns and then being let go with an apology, since no hard evidence against them could be found. Amongst those Death Eaters were Goyle, Crabbe, Nott, Yaxley and the Carrows.

Severus grit his teeth when he found out, knowing that they had committed some unspeakable atrocities. But the headmaster refused to allow Severus to testify or to help the aurors, determined to get him away from being associated with the whole mess.

But Severus still had hope that some of the Death Eaters who had been fingered by their imprisoned colleagues and had hard evidence against them from reliable, veritaserum proven eye witnesses would be brought to justice.

He was so busy gloating over that, that he failed to remember that many of his former colleagues hadn't been idiots.

When the aurors caught up to these Death Eaters, they all had very accurate, very sad tales to tell about being under the imperius curse for years and having committed all of these atrocities against their wills. Giving them veritaserum only verified their accounts—which Severus said wasn't that difficult to do if one knew how to cheat veritaserum or how to implant false memories into their heads, which all Death Eaters had been taught to do—and they were all released with a firm warning to start being productive members of society from now on.

Two of these Death Eaters were Lucius Malfoy and Nicholas Avery.

School Year, 1982 - 1983

Hogwarts School

He strode down the corridor, already hearing the music blaring and loud talking and laughter coming from the common room. Gently touching the door, the snakes slithered aside and let him in.

Without waiting to be seen, he silenced them all and shut the door behind him with a flick of his wand.

"Good evening and welcome back to another no doubt wonderful year at Hogwarts." He glanced down at the first years, who were all cowering by the walls, staring at anybody but him. They had just come down from sorting—an excruciatingly boring event that Severus wished he could still skip—but hadn't been introduced to their head of house yet.

"To those of you who don't know, my name is Professor Snape and I am your potions professor and your Head of House. Now, as some of you might remember, I left you last June with a promise that things would be different this year. And believe me, they will be. I see that some of your colleagues have chosen not to return and while I applaud those of you who have chosen to return and continue your education, I want each and every one of you to know that from now on, this house will be run very differently. Anybody who refuses to abide by this new mode of operations will be given firm warnings, after which they will be expelled and told not to return. I am tired of having the efforts of many butchered by the idiocy of the few."

He gave Carling Dayton a hard look, who crossed her arms and lifted her chin at him. Her brother stomped on her foot and gave her an exasperated look.

He skimmed the other faces, seeing some that really surprised him. Tessa Corvax—the young girl who would have been initiated this past summer—was there, and Luther Prescott—Janus Altair's friend—was missing. And of course, Serina, Tabitha and Janus were missing.

He waved his wand and a stack of papers appeared beside him.

"I have spent the summer coming up with ways that this house will turn itself around. The most important way we will do that is by taking our education seriously. I realize for some of you, that isn't possible in your current year level. You might be in sixth year according to your age and your time of attendance here, but knowledge wise, you don't have even the slightest grasp of any material above second or third year. Therefore, I have moved nearly everybody around until they are in a year which is realistic for them. Before anybody complains, know that you will either attend the classes I have chosen for you, or I will throw you back onto that train. You will be pleased to find that many of your friends will be in the same year as you so you won't stick out too much. Besides, I don't give a damn what a bunch of Gryffs, Claws and Puffs think, and neither should you." Waving his wand, he sent the papers flying around.

He saw Emma Treagle and Miranda Welton look relieved to see they had moved onto to second and third year respectively. Raymond Webster looked crestfallen to be repeating second year, but Severus knew he could easily join his third year age group if he tried hard enough.

Carling didn't bother looking at hers but her brother was frowning at their papers, obviously surprised Severus had moved them both back down to first year, never mind that they should be in third year.

Tessa's eyes nearly fell out of her head and her mouth fell open when she saw that she wasn't repeating seventh year for the second time but had been moved down to third year. Cameron Alanson looked relieved to be one of the very few who was also advancing to his appropriate year and would be one of the only two Slytherins that year to be in seventh year.

"I realize some of you might not like being in the years I have put you in. As I said, the door is right behind me and I'm sure the headmaster can rig up a port key to take you home any time you want. However, for those who would like to get back to their own age groups and possibly graduate with their peers, I will have exams for every year in every subject available at any time. Whenever you believe you are ready to advance, you can come and write the exams. If the professors marking those exams deem you are ready, I will advance you into the appropriate classes. Any questions?"

He removed the silencing charm from them. "Yes, Mr. Alanson?"

"Sir, if we're in seventh year but we want to take more NEWT classes than we currently are, can we?"

"If you wrote an OWL in the subject you wish to take and got a high enough grade, certainly. If you didn't, you will have to write the OWL for that subject and do the sixth year NEWT class for that subject as well. I wouldn't advise that unless you wish to do an extra year."

Cameron shrugged. "I'm not in a hurry, sir."

"Come by my office and we shall discuss it in more detail. Any other questions? No? Good. Next. I will be adopting a strict policy concerning your behaviour this year. Anybody caught skipping, smoking, fighting or disrespecting a teacher will not only lose house points but will have detention. The rules for detention will be the same as they were last year. If you're in second year, you'll serve two days, in sixth year, you'll serve six. And no, Ms. Dayton, just because you're in first year now doesn't mean you'll only be serving one day. You'll serve your age appropriate detention. Yes, Ms. Corvax, that means an entire week for you. If anybody is caught doing drugs, vandalizing school property or causing harm to anybody or sneaking off school grounds, they will be given one warning, after which they will be expelled. I will not spend another year running after the few trouble-makers who ruin things for everybody else and take up my time. Is everybody clear on that? If anybody doesn't like the sound of this, once again, the door is right behind me."

Some of them shifted around and Tessa looked like she was actually thinking about walking out, but they all stayed put.

"Good. Now, everybody up and follow me." Without waiting, he turned around and marched out of the common room, down the corridor and up the stairs, hearing feet hurrying after him and confused whispers.

They wound their way up the stairs and down hallways until they reached the main hall and Severus stopped before the hour glasses standing there.

"What are these?" Severus asked.

Emma put up her hand. "Ms. Treagle?"

"Hour glasses, sir."

"And what are they for? Ms. Corvax? You've been at the school nearly the longest. What are they for?"

A shrug answered him.

"Ms. Corvax, I asked you a question. I demand an answer. If you are as idiotic as you are pretending to be, then say you don't know or provide me with an answer."

She sighed. "They're for house points."

"Sir."

"What?"

"They're for house points, sir."

She rolled her eyes. "They're for house points, sir."

He realized a few students from other houses were milling around, staring at them, but he ignored them.

"And can anybody tell me how many points Slytherin house has at the moment?"

All of them stared at him as if he was crazy. All of the green emeralds were in the top part of the hour glass, looking like they hadn't moved in years. All of the other houses had a few rubies, sapphires or topaz in their bases.

"Well?"

"Uhm, none, sir?"

"Very good, Ms. Welton. That took a lot of thought, no doubt. Why does our house not have any points?"

Lots of feet shuffling, eye rolling or flushing followed this, but Severus wasn't expecting an answer. They all knew the answer.

"Everybody come back downstairs."

They followed him down and he waited until they had all taken a seat on the couches, chairs or the floor.

"Why are house points important? Yes?"

"To win the Cup, sir."

"Which Cup?"

"The House Cup."

"Precisely. And what other Cup is there to be won?"

"The Quidditch Cup, sir."

"And why haven't we won either in more than ten years?"

"Well, we don't have a Quidditch team. And, well, nobody ever gives us points."

"Precisely." He stared around at all of them. "Nobody in this room or in this entire school has cared about why Slytherin house hasn't won either in more than ten years. And do we know why?"

A sea of shrugs and more feet shuffling followed this. "Speak up, Mr. Webster. I can't hear you."

"Because we're losers, sir. And everybody knows it."

"And why would the world think of us as losers?"

"Cause we don't do anything. Well, we do, but most of us just do stupid stuff. Everybody knows most Death Eaters were Slytherins so they all think we're trash like them. No offense, sir."

"None taken, Mr. Alanson. You're absolutely correct. The rest of the school and the rest of our society has come to think of Slytherins being trash as being a fact, not just an assumption. People want us to be locked up from the minute we set foot out of the school. People want this house disbanded and for Slytherin to cease existing."

Some of them looked a bit shocked, but most of them didn't look surprised.

"And what's worst is that hardly any of you care. None of you care what the rest of our society thinks about Slytherins. None of you know what it means to be a part of this house. None of you are proud of your house or your housemates and you don't care that nobody else is either. And that is worse than having the rest of the school sneer at us."

None of them said anything.

"Which is why from this moment on, we're going to prove them and us wrong."

"How, sir?"

"We're going to not only get back onto the playing field when it comes to competing for the Cups, but we're going to win those Cups. Both of them."

They all stared at him like he was nuts. Tessa rolled her eyes, Carling and Leland frowned at each other and Cameron tried to look politely doubtful.

After long minutes of silence, little Emma Treagle put up her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Treagle?"

"What do we do, sir?"


	10. Chapter 10

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful feedback! It's great to hear that so many of you still care about this story and are eager to see it continue!

Gotsnape had some interesting questions regarding my 'prejudice'; ) . Yes, I am focusing primarily on Slytherin House and yes, I am making Snape favor Slytherin house. There are two reasons for this. One is that Snape has always favored his own house, as canon has shown. Two is that the books seem to only focus on Gryffindor house, and whenever Slytherin house is mentioned, it's mentioned in a negative light. From the very first book, Harry was told not to like Slytherins, an attitude that the rest of Gryffindor seems to share and that has largely been unwarranted. Sure, Draco can be a twit, but so can Harry, and we only know the Slytherins who Harry has a problem with. Hope that helps. Enjoy!

'Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.'

- Jim Rohn

XXXXXX

At precisely seven o'clock the next morning, Severus released the firecrackers through the common room. When dozens of sleepy, confused faces peered out their doors at him, he told them to get dressed and to get out onto the Quidditch pitch within ten minutes.

Ten minutes later, the entire house was out on the pitch, with Tessa and a few others still wearing their nightgowns and not having come on their own feet, but they were there.

Severus summoned all of the brooms they had and told them to each grab one and do a quick lap of the pitch before handing the broom to the next person.

It took a bit of magical coaxing until his students realized he was serious and the first few climbed onto their brooms and kicked off.

Most of them already knew how to fly brooms since they had been raised in magical households, but the few who hadn't received quick instructions and some beginner brooms.

When Severus saw that the situation wasn't hopeless, he brought out the boxes containing the Quidditch balls and a few bats.

"Alright. Everybody listen. I'm going to set up some stations. You will either line up beside either of the Keeper hoops, infront of the hoops or in the middle of the pitch where I will place the beater bats. You will each take turns trying out being Keepers, Chasers, Beaters and Seekers. This isn't an optional exercise and everybody, even the beginners will try out all positions. Breakfast starts in half an hour and I want everybody to have tried out all positions by then. Get moving."

To his surprise, the stations worked out better than he had thought. A lot of the older Slytherins liked showing off their skills to the younger ones, and the younger ones were eager to be doing something with the older ones.

They lined up at the various stations and Severus released the Quaffles, Bludgers and a few Snitches and then kicked off on his own broom, zooming around the pitch and sorting out some near collisions and reminding the people practicing being Beaters that if they hit anybody with their bats or the Bludgers, he would ensure they never get off their broomsticks again.

When it was time for breakfast to start, he ordered them all to come back and forced the balls back into their boxes.

Conjuring up long sheets of paper, he wrote up some headings. "If anybody liked some or all of the positions they tried out and would like to try out for our new Quidditch team, write your name down. We'll have more practices and we'll have the try-outs early next week. If you didn't enjoy any of this, then by all means, don't put your names down but know that everybody will be contributing to our Quidditch team, regardless of whether you actually play or not."

When he got the papers back, he saw that quite a few of the younger ones had signed up but some of the older ones had too. He saw that Cameron had signed up to try out for Keeper and Miranda Welton had put herself down as Chaser, but that Carling, Leland and Tessa hadn't put their names down.

Gathering up the papers and sending the broom sticks and boxes zooming back to the shed, he herded them all inside, magically washing everybody's hands and straightening robes and marching into the Great Hall.

Nearly everybody stopped to stare at them as they came in, rosy cheeked and quietly chattering. Even more people stopped to stare at them when the line of Slytherins coming in for breakfast grew and grew until the entire house was sitting at their table for the first time in years. None of them talked much, none of them threw a fit or broke any dishes. All of them were hungry enough from their morning exercise to dig into their breakfast quietly, ignoring the stares from all the other houses and the teachers.

Severus slid into his own seat, already digging into his own breakfast before he noticed the stares.

The headmaster was smiling at him. "It seems like Slytherin house has quite an appetite this morning, Severus."

"We had an early start, headmaster. We started Quidditch trials."

Pomona choked on her orange juice and the entire staff table turned to stare at him.

"Quidditch trials, Professor Snape?" Minerva asked from Albus' other side.

Severus stared back at her evenly, waiting for the laughter to start. "Yes, Professor McGonagall."

"Am I to assume you're putting together a Slytherin team, then?"

"Yes, I am, Professor."

She shot him a small smile. "Good. I do hope they'll prove to be some competition."

He lifted his chin. "They will, Professor. I promise you."

XXXXXX

Immediately after breakfast, he brought his house back down into the dungeons, told everybody to gather their school supplies—and conjuring up some for those who didn't have anything—and brought them back upstairs.

While everybody was milling around, going to classes on their own, Severus and his Slytherins went from one classroom to another, dropping off people who had class there. He made sure they all had parchment and a quill—an auto-quill in cases like Carling who he knew wouldn't take her own notes—and shoved them in, telling them to stay put until class ended.

After having distributed everybody in their proper places, he raced back down to his own classroom, let the waiting class in and started teaching.

When class ended, he raced back upstairs and tried to ensure everybody was going to the class they were supposed to attend next before running back down to his own dungeons again.

XXXXXX

After herding everybody to dinner together—which once again shocked the entire school—he let them have free time until 7 o'clock, which was when he came back in and made them all assemble in the potions classroom. He had magically enlarged the room to fit everybody and conjured up more desks and chairs.

Then he told everybody to sit down and start doing their homework. Nearly all of them blinked at him and muttered that they didn't have any. He raised an eyebrow and asked one of the fourth years to recite and demonstrate everything he had learned that day, to which he got a blank stare in return. That, he said, was homework.

He went from table to table, asking them to demonstrate the simple spells they had learned about and taken notes on that day and to read out-loud whatever concepts they had learned. When something came up that caused confusion, he asked the room at large if there was anybody there who could answer the question. Sometimes there was, and Severus awarded points to whoever had answered, but mostly there wasn't and Severus swept up to the blackboard and wrote up and explained whatever was causing problems.

Some of the students spent the entire tutorial sitting there, doodling or chattering and doing next to no work, but Severus was too busy to really call them on it.

After two hours of doing something that more or less resembled homework, he told them they all had an hour to do what they liked before bed time.

XXXXXX

And so a routine was born. Three times a week there would be Quidditch practice in the mornings, followed by breakfast, classes, free time, dinner, tutorial for a few hours, free time and bed time. For the weekends Severus allowed everybody to vote on which day they preferred to dedicate to homework and which would be their day off. They all decided to pick Saturday as their lazy day and Sunday as their working day.

Saturdays were the days Severus spent marking, making next weeks lesson plans, reading or fiddling around with some potions he had never really had a chance to do more than think about and having long conversations with Bella.

At first he kept the one way shields up over the dungeon entrances, not allowing his students to roam around the rest of the school unsupervised, until some of them had approached him to ask if there was any way he would change it.

He thought it over and then said that if any of them earned twenty points for their house a month, they would be allowed to roam around during the next month. Until they won that many points, they would have to stay in the dungeons and if they lost any points, they would have the privilege revoked. To his surprise, not many of them wanted to leave the dungeons during their free time or their Saturdays anyway, content to lie around their common room with their friends, which suited Severus fine.

He kept his office and his work shop and class room doors open whenever he was in them, wanting to keep an eye and ear on what was going on around him and wanting to be accessible if anybody wanted him. On Saturdays they were allowed to have broom races down the corridor—providing they kept the walls and the ends charmed with the soft foam Severus showed them the incantation for—and listen to the radio and munch on some snacks the elves were politely asked to bring up. Every Saturday ended with cleaning up the dungeons from top to bottom, throwing out all their trash and getting ready to spend Sunday doing homework.

On Sundays, there was no flying, no radio and no loud yelling permitted. They didn't have to spend all day doing homework but many of them had so much catching up to do with their studies that they spent most of Sunday sitting in the potions classroom with Severus, going over basic concepts again and again. Once their homework was finished and Severus said they were finished for the day, they spent the rest of Sunday quietly reading or doing other quiet activities that didn't disturb those who still had work to do.

At the beginning of term, he routinely apparated down to the Hog's Head to check if Jib had been selling to any students from the school or if any of his Slytherins had been by the pub to get drugs. After using legilimency to tell whether Jib or the bartender were lying or not, he started getting satisfied that his students weren't leaving the grounds to look for drugs anymore. Turning the dungeons upside during random inspections also started yielding fewer and fewer hidden stashes. Helping matters was the fact that he had thrown the three worst drugs addicts out already and other heavy users hadn't returned or left early in the year. He made sure to keep his Slytherins too busy to think about creative ways of sneaking drugs into the castle and hiding them, and as the weeks went on, he started having to do fewer and fewer inspections. Sometimes he would catch some of them drinking or smoking and they would get detention and a firm warning, but the presence of harsh drugs started dwindling to nothing in his house.

XXXXXX

To say that everybody got into the routine immediately with enthusiasm and complete dedication would be a gross understatement. Carling hated coming to tutorial and just sat there as her brother quietly listened to Severus explain something. Tessa didn't even come to tutorial and spent most days lying in her bed, reading magazines and turning the radio up every time Severus turned it down on all days except Saturday.

When first term was half over, Severus called the small defiant group into his office and told them that this was their final warning. If they didn't start putting some effort into class and obey the new rules of their house, he would be tossing them out before Christmas break.

Tessa had shrugged, muttered "Whatever" and asked if she could leave now if she wanted to. Severus handed her a port-key that would take her home and told her to have her things and herself out of the castle within twenty minutes.

He never saw her again.

Carling was a different matter. She scowled and said she wasn't leaving her brother. Severus told her that if Leland wanted to leave as well, they were both welcome to leave.

She had gone and held a whispered conversation with her brother about it, and it was the first time Severus heard Leland yelling at his sister, saying that he liked it here much better than being at home and didn't want to leave because she was being lazy.

At the end, he lost five more Slytherins including Tessa, and Carling had promised to try to start being a bit more productive.

XXXXXX

After a week of letting everybody practice whatever positions they wanted to, Severus started holding try-outs.

To his surprise, quite a few of his Slytherins dragged themselves out of bed to sit on the bleachers with him even if they weren't trying out.

Cameron became their new Keeper, Miranda became one of their three new Chasers and Carling was convinced to try out as a Beater. To nobody's surprise but her own, she grinned from the very first time she slammed a Bludger into the far wall and didn't stop smiling until she had to give her bat to someone else.

Their Seeker try-outs nearly turned into a disaster. The older students who had signed up could fly, but they weren't fast enough, and the younger students weren't good enough at flying to have a chance at being an effective Seeker.

Severus stared around at the potential Seekers milling around on the pitch and some of the Slytherins lounging around on the bleachers, until his eyes fell on Raymond Webster, sitting on one of the front bleachers, swinging his legs and reading a book and occasionally glancing up to clap at somebody's effort.

"Mr. Webster!" he yelled down.

Raymond twisted around and shaded his eyes in the early morning sun to look up at him. "Yes, Professor?"

"How long have you been on a broom?"

"Since I was about six, sir."

"Get a broom and try to grab the Snitch."

"Me, sir?"

"No, Mr. Webster, the other Mr. Webster sitting right behind you. Of course you! Get moving!"

Raymond scrambled up and grabbed a broom from somebody. Mounting it, he waited until the Snitch was thrown up into the air, and he was off, zooming after it. Within one minute, he had caught it.

Severus raised an eyebrow and waved him over. Raymond hovered above him.

"Did you enjoy that, Mr. Webster?"

"I guess so, sir."

"It was a yes or a no question."

"Yes, sir. But I don't think I'm good enough to be Seeker, sir."

"I do. Consider yourself a part of the team. Congratulations."

And their new Slytherin Quidditch team was born.

XXXXXX

In early November their Quidditch team was set to face their first opponents, the Gryffindors.

Severus had explained early on that the way to win a match wasn't only to play well, but to have the players feel like they could do it. The only way to give them this confidence was to ensure that the rest of the house was supporting them.

Many Slytherins who weren't actually on the team regularly woke up for the seven o'clock practices three times a week with the team and sat on the bleachers, cheering and laughing at fumbles while Severus drilled the team. Out of all of them, Leland never missed a practice, even if he huddled on the bleachers in the pouring rain under the umbrella Severus conjured up for him, watching his sister slamming Bludgers all around the field.

As their practice wore on, Severus knew they weren't ready to win anything, but they were ready to at least make an appearance at an actual game.

Right before the game, Severus conjured up green and silver paint for those who wanted to decorate themselves and made sure everybody knew they would have to be in attendance before sending them up to sit in the bleachers.

Then he lined up the team and told them that no matter what happened, they had practiced all they could, and considering they had only been a team for a few short weeks, they had already done very well. Even if they lost terribly, he was proud of them for what they had already accomplished.

On their way upstairs, Raymond got an attack of nerves and started shaking.

"I don't think I can do this, Professor. The Gryff Seeker is a lot bigger than me and the Gryff team is very good, sir. I've watched them practice."

Before Severus could open his mouth, Carling pushed past him and got in Raymond's face.

"You listen here Webster! We've practiced a lot and like the professor said, we're new at this whole thing so we'll probably not win, but I'll be damned if we go out there acting like losers! We've practiced and we're going to go out there and show those Gryffs that we can at least give them a bit of a licking!"

Raymond stared at her.

"You understand me Webster? If we go out there and act like scared ninnies, they'll all laugh at us!"

"They'll laugh anyway," Cameron put in. "But the point is, we're going to go out there anyway and we're going to play and we're going to show the whole school that we're not losers anymore and they'll have to start considering us serious competition."

Then Cameron slung an arm around Raymond and kept going up the stairs.

Severus followed, struggling to hide a smile. They might not have the talent yet, but they certainly had the attitude.

Like Cameron said, the whole school did laugh. And boo. And jeer.

Raymond stumbled to a stop and looked ready to run back inside, but Carling elbowed him hard and stuck her chin up and dragged him along, giving the crowd the finger as the team crossed the pitch towards the dressing rooms.

Severus pretended not to have seen the finger, but instead, glanced at the crowd of Slytherins sitting in one part of the bleachers who were cheering and yelling back at the boos of the crowd. He thought he saw Leland giving the finger to a Hufflepuff, but he chose to ignore that, since none of the teachers seemed to care that his house was being attacked by the combined force of three others.

They did lose. Rather spectacularly. There was only so much preparation a beginner team practicing against itself could do, and the more experienced Gryff team wiped the pitch with them.

Cameron missed the Quaffle every single time, Miranda spent the whole time trying to stay away from the other team's Beaters and never touched the Quaffle either, and Carling got preoccupied with the laughs from the crowd and threw her bat into the bleachers, which earned her a suspension from the game. To top it all off, Raymond didn't even see the Snitch until the Gryff Seeker had caught it.

The whole team looked on the verge of tears and even Cameron looked ready to slink away but Severus told them to keep their chins high and smile and wave at the crowd on their way out and act as if they had just wiped the floor with the Gryffs.

Salazar's words echoed in his head and he muttered at the team to keep their disappointment off their faces and in their heads until they were back in their dungeons. Their disappointment wasn't anybody's business but theirs.

So a group of inwardly dejected but outwardly confident looking Quidditch players marched back across the pitch and down into their dungeons, where they all slumped in chairs and said they might as well give up.

"It was our first game, Mr. Alanson."

"You saw how terrible we were, sir! There's no way we'll ever win that Cup."

"With that attitude, we'll never win anything. You all saw what the rest of the school thought of us. They're all up there right now, laughing and saying that they knew all along that Slytherins weren't any serious competition. Are we going to just give up and prove them right?"

"No, we're not!" Carling declared, glaring at the rest of her team.

"That's the spirit, Ms. Dayton. Now. Starting tomorrow, we'll continue practices. I identified some key difficulties we had today and I'll spend tonight trying to come up with drills to work on those issues. And Ms. Dayton?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You can't allow the crowd to get to you. I understand they irritate you, but if you throw your bat into the stands again, Madame Hooch might suspend you for the entire year. You won't be any help in making that laughing crowd swallow their own tongues if you're sitting on the sidelines." He looked at the rest of his house. "We can do this. But what we mustn't allow is to let the rest of the school's attitudes dictate how we should feel! We're Slytherins, ladies and gentlemen. Which means we don't give a damn what anybody else thinks about us. We have our goals and we will do whatever it takes to achieve them and nobody—nobody—gets to tell us that we can't accomplish. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"I didn't hear you."

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. Tutorial will start in thirty minutes. I will see you all in the classroom."

XXXXXX

Their other Quidditch matches that year weren't spectacular either, but they gradually got better. They lost to Ravenclaw in January, but nearly won their match against Hufflepuff after Easter break. They still lost by forty points, but it was the closest they had ever come to winning and the entire house smiled for days afterwards, sticking their tongues out at the rest of the school, even though they had officially lost.

But even though their Quidditch success that year wasn't enough to make the rest of the school stop jeering at them, they threw themselves into making that hour glass of theirs fuller.

Students who were already well caught up such as Miranda and Cameron worked tirelessly helping tutor the other students and answering as many questions as possible in class for house points.

Half way through second term, Raymond declared he was ready to try his hand at writing the second year exams, and he passed with flying colors. He tackled third year material with such dedication that he even brought homework out to the Quidditch pitch to work on during small breaks during practice. He was determined to write the third year exams in June with the other third years and Severus was determined to see he do it too.

But nobody put in more work that year than the students who had been drastically behind. They came to tutorial dragging their homework and extra assignments Severus made them do. After too many accidents in the potions classroom, Severus brought them to an enormous empty chamber in the dungeons which he renamed the duelling chambers and allowed students to practice spells and charms on pillow. When he was there to supervise and ensure he corrected wrong enunciations and wand movement and could repair any disastrous magical accidents, he allowed them to practice on each other.

When they were working on assignments in the classroom he let the students who were done early play games in the back, help their classmates or prepare ingredients for a potion he was working on or clean cauldrons, earning their house more points.

Severus was sure to do his own part in helping his house get closer to winning that Cup. Since the rest of the school hardly acknowledged the effort his house was putting into succeeding and changing their ways and continually favored the other three houses, Severus reversed that attitude in the dungeons. Carling got ten points for yelling out an answer to a simple question that Severus had gone over the answer for five times the night before, while a Gryff lost thirty points for holding his knife wrong. He also turned a blind eye to the fact that Carling held every knife he put in her hand as if she was about to butcher whatever was on her table.

The other three houses hated him, but his Slytherins loved the fact that at least one Professor favored their house over the others. They actually liked coming to potions class since they felt they were finally in friendly territory after dodging enemy fire all day upstairs.

He didn't care what the other Professors thought and said and what the rest of the school thought and said and he taught his Slytherins to do the same.

"We are Slytherins. We're in this house because we're smart, strong, cunning and ambitious and it's up to you to use those skills to make your lives what you want them to be, because nobody else will want to help you. It doesn't matter how many people look down at you and say you can't do it, because we're Slytherins and we can do whatever we put our minds to doing."

XXXXXX

"And the first step to a color alteration charm is?"

"Oh, oh! I know! I know!"

"Ms. Dayton? Do you have an answer?"

"Well I don't but my brother does!"

"What? No I don't! Carling!"

"Of course you do, silly! I remember you were doing this with the Professor just last night! Tell her, quickly! Hey! Puff! Shut up and put your bloody hand down! We already know the answer and we don't need you!"

"Carling!"

"Ms. Dayton, control yourself or you will lose points. Do you know the answer, Mr. Dayton?"

"Uhm, yes, Professor. It's—it's deciding what color will mesh well with the current color."

"And why is that?"

"Because, because some colors don't mix well."

Professor McGonagall allowed a small smile to tug at the corner of her mouth. "Very good, Mr. Dayton. Ten points to Slytherin."

"You hear that, Puffs? We just got ten points! In your face, Puffs!"

"Ms. Dayton, please refrain from yelling at your classmates or I will be forced to deduct those points."

"I'm sorry, Professor. Really sorry. I'll be quiet."

As soon as Minerva's back was turned, Carling stuck her tongue at the Hufflepuffs still glaring at her.

XXXXXX

Cameron and a few of his friends rounded the corner from the library and saw a group of other students standing around something, laughing loudly.

Pushing his way through, Cameron saw Raymond's blond head in the middle, being pushed around and made fun of by the crowd.

"Hey! Get away from him!"

The crowd ignored him so Cameron went back to the other Slytherins. "They've got Raymond."

A fifth year girl rolled up her sleeves. "Let's get him out then. We'll teach them not to mess with our Seeker."

They pulled their wands out, lined themselves up, oriented themselves in a way that would ensure none of them actually hexed each other—like the Professor had taught them—and then let lose with water streams, jelly leg jinxes and paint bombs.

The crowd started screaming as students fled down the hallway or hid behind their neighbours.

In no time, the Slytherins had cleared a path to Raymond, who ran over to them and pulled out his own wand.

The two groups stared at each other for a long moment before one of the Gryffindors went to pull out his wand.

Cameron sent a non-verbal Expelliarmus at him and watched his wand flying down the corridor. Then he raised his eyebrows at the rest of them.

"Anybody else? Come on! Don't tell me you don't think you can take on a bunch of Slyths!"

A few looked like they were about to pull out their wands, but changed their minds when seven wands immediately turned on them, all of them looking ready to take them on.

One of the Ravenclaws sneered at them. "Come on, guys. They're not worth it. Let's go."

The fifth year girl sneered back. "And neither are you, Claw, which is the only reason I'm leaving your hair on your head. If any of you bother Webster or any other Slytherin ever again, you'll regret it."

"You touch us we'll report you straight to the headmaster and get you thrown out."

Cameron gave the girl a smile. "You'd have to know it was us and you'd have to have proof, and trust me, when a Slytherin comes after you, you won't have either."

Glancing at his other Slytherins, he jerked his head back towards the dungeons. "Come on. Let's go."

Along the way, one of the other Slytherins muttered that even if he earned his twenty points next month, he was staying in the dungeons. There wasn't anything he was missing upstairs.

XXXXXX

They finished the school year thirty points behind Gryffindor, who had come in third place. They didn't win either Cup, but they had been firmly put onto the playing field and they were all darn proud of that fact.

While yelling goodbyes at the rest of their classmates, they all stopped by Severus' office before heading up to the train, all of them saying they couldn't wait until September when they would be ready to give it another go and make those Cups theirs.


	11. Chapter 11

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 11

'Certainty of death, small chance of success? What are you waiting for?'

- Gimli ('Return of the King' by JRR Tolkien)

XXXXXX

Summer, 1983

Hogwarts School

He kept the disillusionment charm around himself as he crossed the cemetery, not wanting to be seen and asked questions.

_"You wanted to see me, headmaster?" Severus asked, pushing open the office door._

_"Ah, yes. Please come in, Severus."_

_Severus headed straight for his chair and sat down._

_"How has your first summer as a professor been so far?"_

_"Much less stressful than the school year, sir.__ Gorgon and I have had a chance to finally catch up on some research and other odds and ends we've been putting off for months. Not to mention we're busy planning how to fix up that disaster that's my house."_

_Albus smiled at him while Severus narrowed his eyes at him. _

_"But you didn't call me all the way up here to discuss my summer plans, sir."_

_The headmaster's gaze dropped down to his desk before he looked at his young potions professor again. "No. I wanted to speak to you about Lily."_

Clutching the small bunch of wildflowers in his hand, he found the grave without having to read the tombstone engravings and crouched down before it.

"Hey. Sorry it's been a while but things at the school have been mad."

He placed the wildflowers on the dirt covering the grave and Vanishing a few weeds that have crept close since Easter break when he had last visited.

_Severus sat up with a jerk. "What about her? I've just been to see her, sir."_

_"Yes, I know. Which is why I wanted to discuss this with you now. I thought for sure you had heard by now, but you and Gorgon have been so busy with the school that it's a small wonder you haven't."_

_"Heard what, sir? Is this about my probation? My probation officer didn't say a word to me last Tuesday."_

_"No, dear.__ It's about the circumstances surrounding Lily's death."_

_Severus clenched his jaw and swallowed hard. "The Dark Lord murdered her, sir. We knew that already. And her sacrifice saved that little brat of hers, hit the Dark Lord and tore him from his body. What else is there to know?"_

_"How did Tom find them?"_

_"I beg your pardon?"_

"We lost to Hufflepuff in the last Quidditch match but only by forty points. Not bad considering the Gryffs and Claws wiped the pitch with us, huh? I know you'd be sitting with the reds in the stands, but you'd be proud of our Slyth team. They worked hard. Really hard. We didn't get either of the Cups. Like that's a big surprise. But we actually scraped together a handful of house points by the end of June. You're probably not surprised. You always knew Slytherins were capable of doing whatever needed to be done. Sometimes our heads aren't screwed on right, but once they are, we're a damn serious force to be reckoned with."

_"You know both the Longbottoms and the Potters were protected by a secret keeper."_

_Severus frowned. "The Potter's secret keeper was never caught, headmaster. I would have heard about it. Unless…" He sat up with a jerk, his eyes sparking with sudden understanding. "Unless their secret keeper willingly gave up their location to the Dark Lord."_

_Albus sighed sadly. "Precisely. We believe their secret keeper had been the one feeding information about the Order to Tom for months prior to the Potter's death. His last act of betrayal was giving up the Potter's location to his master."_

_Severus felt cold rage fill him. "Who was it, headmaster?"_

_"There's nothing you can do about it now, dear. Peter Pettigrew confronted him afterwards and the traitor murdered Peter and twelve other muggles before he was arrested. He's in Azkaban now serving a life sentence."_

_"Who was it, headmaster?"_

_Albus sighed. "Sirius Black."_

He sighed softly. "I still can't believe you let Potter make that moron your secret keeper. I didn't think you'd let him do something that obvious. No, you wouldn't have. He probably did it without telling you first, the idiot. Alright, alright, I'm laying off him. But I'm not laying off Black. He never liked either one of us and he tried to kill me and that's why I hated him, but he killed you. He took you away from me and he stabbed you in the back, and for that, I'll make him pay. I swear, Evans. If he ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll make him pay."

He smoothed some clumps of dirt with a gentle finger. "I miss you. I really do. I'm keeping busy but every time I have a bit of free time, sometimes I forgot you're not here anymore and I want to run upstairs and find you. The school still feels weird without you."

He swallowed hard. "I have to go. Gorgon and I have things to buy in Knockturn Alley before my curfew. But I meant what I said, Evans. The minute Black sticks his nose outside of Azkaban, I'll be there to cut it off. I promise you that."

Pushing himself up, he sighed softly. "I'll be back soon, alright?"

Turning around, he slowly walked away from the grave. A part of him knew that Black would most likely never get out of Azkaban, but he knew that that was punishment enough. But if he ever got out and tried to make a run for freedom that he didn't deserve, he'd be there to get him. Of that he was sure.

XXXXXX

Half way through July he was once again winding his way through the crowds in Knockturn Alley, his elf at his heels reading their shopping list out loud and Gabrielle racing ahead of them, trying to nick things off the street vendors without them seeing.

"—and needing more dragon tongue and slugs. Gorgy thinking dragon tongues best gotten from—"

"Xavier, yes elf, I know. Do we have a price list for the slugs?"

"Uhm, looks like cheapest from Master Flatley but not very good quality. Gorgy thinking it best to spend bit more money and get from apothecary in Hogsmeade."

"Right. Gabrielle! Leave those earrings alone! Why? First off, you don't have money to pay for them, secondly, they're probably cursed and will burn your ears off and thirdly, you don't even have pierced ears."

Scowling at the crowds and ignoring Gabrielle's whining, Severus ducked down a side street that would lead him to Xavier's basement shack faster.

Half way down, he thought he heard a voice yelling "Professor Snape!" at him. Glancing around, he didn't see anybody who he recognized, much less anybody who would address him as Professor. Xavier and the other dealers he did business with still called him Master Snape, as did other individuals he had come in contact with in the alley over the years.

He heard another shout of his name and paused, frowning up and down the street.

"Up here, Professor! It's me, Leland!"

He looked up and saw Leland Dayton's head poking out from one of the apartments beside him.

"Mr. Dayton! It's good to see you. How is your summer?"

Leland shrugged. "Not too bad, sir. A bit boring. Carling makes me stay here while she's out."

"Do I want to know where Ms. Dayton has carried herself off to?"

"She's scrounging for food, sir. I told her not to get into fights along the way, since that delays her and sometimes, when she gets into fights with people bigger than her she ends up losing what she found and that defeats the purpose."

Severus frowned. "What do you mean she's scrounging for food, Mr. Dayton? Why aren't your parents buying you food?"

Another shrug. "My mother never remembers to get us food, sir. It's not really her fault."

Severus blinked. "How is her not feeding you not her fault?"

Another shrug. "It's the drugs, sir. They're her first priority. You know how it is."

Did he ever. "What's her poison of choice?"

"Cocaine, sir. And she drinks. But the cocaine takes up most of our money."

Severus was starting to put the pieces to a puzzle together that he had been thinking about for the past two years. He hadn't been able to get a word out of Carling concerning their home situation all last year and she had refused to let Leland speak to him.

"Are you hungry, Mr. Dayton?"

"A bit, sir."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Yesterday, sir. Carling couldn't leave to go find anything since mother was still here. Carling doesn't like leaving me alone with mother."

"Why is that, Mr. Dayton?"

"She tends to throw things and yells too much."

"And Ms. Dayton no doubt throws things back and yells back?"

"All the time, sir. It doesn't solve anything but it makes mother leave me alone."

Making up his mind, he pulled out his wand. "Do you care to come for lunch, Mr. Dayton?"

"Now, sir?"

"Yes now."

"Sure, sir."

Twirling his wand above him, he levitated Leland out of the little window he had been leaning out of and deposited him beside him on the street.

"Where does Carling usually go for scrounging?"

"Close to places where people eat, sir. It's the best place to find leftovers in the trash."

"Or to steal things."

Leland blushed slightly and muttered a "Yes, sir," under his breath.

XXXXXX

It only took them twenty minutes to find Carling since Severus told Gabby and Gorgon to zip around the alley looking for her. Once they found her, Severus and Leland went to go get her. At first, her eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw her head of house walking down the street with her brother, but then she immediately got defensive, wanting to know what the hell he wanted and why he had her brother.

Leland had rolled his eyes at her and said that Professor Snape hadn't harmed him and Leland had been the one to call attention to himself in the first place. The Professor was just here to take them to lunch.

Carling gave him a suspicious look but Severus stared back at her. "Have I ever harmed you in any way, Ms. Dayton? Asides from forcing you to study and serve detention?"

She bit her lip and thrust her chin out. "No, sir."

"If you want, I'll give you money and you can buy yourself lunch, but I have a proposition to make both of you, one which I think you'll like to hear."

Carling decided to take him up on his offer—either because she trusted him or because she wanted to bilk as much money out of him as possible—and they went to a small diner where Severus let them order whatever they wanted providing they had something nutritious before the junk food and he himself shared an ice cream with Gabby and Gorgon.

When they were finished, Severus leaned back in his chair and studied the two of them.

"Ms. Dayton, Mr. Dayton and I had a conversation about your home situation before we came to get you."

Carling spun in her chair to glare at her brother. "Leland! I told you not to tell anybody! He'll split us up now, you just watch!"

"Ms. Dayton, nobody is splitting you two up. However, I don't believe your home situation is beneficial to the two of you. Your mother obviously doesn't provide you with appropriate care—"

"I take care of Leland! I make sure we both wash and wash our robes and I find food for both of us."

"Ms. Dayton, I have never doubted your ability to care for your brother. The simple fact of the matter is that you are too young to have to take on these responsibilities by yourself."

"We're not going to a group home."

"Did I mention anything about a group home?"

"Then what the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"If you let me go speak to your mother and Headmaster Dumbledore, I can allow you both to spend the summer at Hogwarts."

Carling frowned. "You mean live at the castle?"

"Yes. You'd have three solid meals a day, you'd sleep in the dormitories, you could practice Quidditch and do more studying for the upcoming year."

"How much studying?"

"Not as much as during the school year, Ms. Dayton. It is summer vacation."

"And mother couldn't just show up and drag us back home?"

"She could demand you go back home, but we would have grounds to fight her on it if she signs the papers I need to get from the headmaster."

Carling exchanged a long look with Leland before dragging him away to hold a quick, whispered conversation with him.

When they emerged, Leland was smiling and Carling was still frowning.

"Alright, sir. We want to go back to Hogwarts with you. And if mother won't sign those papers, you just leave her with me for a few minutes."

XXXXXX

It turned out they didn't need Carling's additional help.

After apparating back to the castle—which left Leland and Carling a little queasy but filled with awe—they went to the headmaster and presented their case.

Albus had stared at the three of them and produced the necessary papers before they had finished their sentences.

Before the three Slytherins left, Albus got up and trailed after them, wanting to be on hand to answer any questions and provide any necessary assistance needed. Not that Severus or Carling needed much assistance with such things.

They found Mrs. Dayton at a bar, already half drunk, her hair soaked in alcohol and filth. She squinted at the four of them, slurring out a "Whadda want?" before signalling the bartender for another shot.

Severus put the papers down infront of her, produced a quill and told her that she was about to sign some papers that would allow Leland and Carling to stay at Hogwarts during all holidays as well as the school year, effectively allowing them to stay at the castle year round.

She frowned and said she wasn't giving up her kids—who was going to work to get her money?— to which Severus bit back the retort that she didn't deserve to keep them, but instead, reassured her that Leland and Carling could visit her whenever they wanted. Legally, she had every right to show up at the school to visit her kids, but not only did Severus doubt she could find the school even if she was sober, but he didn't think she would want to.

After she had signed them and turned to the bartender to demand another drink, Carling and Leland grinned and threw their arms around each other before asking Severus if they could go back to their apartment and grab their belongings.

An hour later, they were all standing in the Slytherin dormitories, Carling begging to be allowed to sleep in the same dorm room as Leland since it was summer and nobody else was there.

"Fine, Ms. Dayton. But only for the summer. Mr. Dayton, you'll be in your usual bed, Ms. Dayton, you'll pick someone else's. Now, you all know when meals are and when tutorial is. Just because you don't have official classes doesn't mean we can't get caught up. And yes, Ms. Dayton, this especially means you. If you put in enough work this summer, you might be able to join Mr. Dayton in second year classes come September. Additionally, I am allowing you to have free reign of the castle, as long as you stay on school grounds and behave yourselves. I will have elves supervise you and they will report to me whenever you are somewhere you shouldn't be or doing something you shouldn't be. And yes, you can and will lose house points for such behaviour. I will be keeping score and adding or subtracting the necessary points as soon as school starts. Do we understand each other?"

Two identical grins were being shot his way. "Yes, sir."

XXXXXX

The rest of the summer passed very similarly to Severus' own summers spent as a student at the school.

He spent his days shopping for ingredients and other various odds and ends—including new robes for the Daytons—that were needed, working on research he had been neglecting, making lesson plans, sorting through everybody's grades and making sure they were going into the appropriate years and booking the Quidditch pitch for their early morning practices.

On some days he played chess with the Bloody Baron, argued with Myrtle over what to name his new potions, came up with new Quidditch drills with Gorgon and tried to keep the Dayton twins out of trouble.

The twins kept to themselves for the most part, lounging in the common room as Leland drew and Carling jumped on the couches, singing along to the stone radio. On other days they came by his work shop and helped him chop things and stir things, with Carling finally getting the hang of handling a knife delicately and not just butchering things. They tagged along when he went down to Hogsmeade or went into the Forbidden Forest to search for specific plants with him—both of them promising never to come into the forest alone and only needing one look at the giant spiders in the place to never want to come in alone anyway.

Other days Severus put Carling through Quidditch drills and then got Leland to jump on a broom too and they flew around the towers of the castle, Severus tying their brooms navigation into his own so all they had to do was hang on and shriek their lungs out.

All together, it was a delightful summer, made better by the fact that by the end of it, Carling proudly wrote her first year exams and was allowed to start second year with her brother once school started.

School Year, 1983 – 1984

Hogwarts School

Staring at the empty plates before him, he wished there was a way for the elves to sneak just a little food onto his plate without anybody else noticing.

Sorting was taking forever, as usual, and he wasn't the only one who was antsy. For the first time in decades, all of his Slytherins were attending the Sorting Feast, and judging by Carling's fiddling with the cutlery and Raymond's glazed look, it was already past time to start dinner.

Thankfully, they were down to the last quarter of the alphabet and the line of first years waiting to be sorted was getting shorter and shorter.

Minerva glanced down at her list and called out the next name, a short little boy who got sorted into Ravenclaw.

Then "Tonks, Nymphadora!" was called and a young girl skipped up to the stool, grabbed the hat and jammed it onto her head, a wide grin on her face.

A Puff. Or possibly a Gryff. He didn't recognize her last name which meant her chances of ending up in his house were slim. Besides, nobody with this much enthusiasm about starting school ended up in his house.

The hat took an unusually long time deciding her fate. Severus was just starting to frown and think that perhaps he was wrong and she was Claw material, when the hat made up it's mind and screamed out "Slytherin!".

His house started clapping and cheering, but Severus kept his eyes on the girl. She pulled off the hat and looked absolutely devastated. She stared down at the hat as if it would change its mind before slowly getting up and shuffling to the Slytherin table.

Sensing her lack of enthusiasm, the cheering from her housemates drifted off and there was minimal budging to make room for her at the very end of the table. She perched on the end of the bench, her hands tightly folded in her lap and staring at her empty plate, looking on the verge of tears.

Severus was so busy frowning over her sudden change in demeanour that he barely noticed Sorting finishing and food appearing on his plate.

After dinner, he followed his chattering Slytherins down to the dungeons, where he started out with his usual introductory speech, telling them who he was and the rules governing the way life was lived in the dungeons. He also handed out everybody's current year levels, making sure to emphasize that a lot fewer people were repeating their previous years than last year, and announcing that the Quidditch team would stay the same except if somebody wanted to try out for a position or if somebody wished to resign their previously held position.

Once he was done, he glanced at the old familiar faces around him as well as the new first years and crossed his arms.

"And since last year we successfully put ourselves back onto the playing fields in both Quidditch and competing for the House Cup, this year, we'll be aiming to get one of those Cups."

"Both Cups, sir!" Raymond Webster piped up. Severus gave him a half smile.

"We shall see, Mr. Webster. We all have lots of work to do and we all know what we have to do to get those Cups. We're going to work hard, we're going to stick together and fight as a united front and we will show the rest of the school that Slytherins are serious competition. Am I wrong?"

"No, sir!" Nearly the entire house yelled out, causing Myrtle to nearly fall off the railing she was balancing on, listening to the speech like she had done last year.

"Good. Classes start tomorrow and I expect everybody to not only attend but to start taking notes and winning points."

"Yes, sir!"

XXXXXX

When he stepped back into the common room at ten o'clock to start herding everybody to the bathrooms and their beds, he noticed the small first year girl again.

She was still standing in the same corner that she had been in during his speech, and she had apparently not moved a muscle since he had last left. Her arms were tightly crossed across her chest and she looked absolutely miserable.

She had started moving towards the stairs winding up to the dormitories when Severus came in, but she didn't attempt to speak with any of the other girls streaming past her, only moving slightly to the side when one of the older girls pushed past her, laughing and complaining that whoever had built these staircases hadn't taken a girl's night time routine into account.

"Ms. Tonks?" Severus called up to her. She paused on the stairs and glanced down at him, looking half fearful and half dejected.

"Yes, sir?"

"Come down here for a moment."

She slowly came back down and Severus motioned for her to step outside the common room with him for a moment, putting them out of the ear shot from the laughing, yelling students running up and down the staircases and tossing toothpaste and spare pajama tops to each other.

She still had her arms crossed and was staring at the floor. Severus leaned against the wall behind him, not wanting to loom over her and seem any more intimidating than he already was. Even though he was twenty-two and still considered a child by most of his student's parents, he knew to an eleven year old, he might as well be fifty.

"Are you homesick, Ms. Tonks?"

She bit her lip and didn't answer.

"It's not shameful to admit. Many first years experience homesickness for the first few days here. I can give you sleeping potions that will not only let you rest, but you can dictate what you want to dream about. I'm told it makes the night nearly more interesting than the days."

"I'm not homesick, sir."

"Then what is it?"

She sighed softly and her gaze darted across the floor before she made up her mind to be honest.

"I don't want to be a Slytherin, sir."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"All Slytherins are evil, sir, and I don't want to end up evil."

He stared down at her for a moment, thinking about how to approach this. "Who told you that, Ms. Tonks?"

"Everybody says it, sir. Everybody at home said it, and everybody on the train. My mother's been telling me for years that she didn't care which house I ended up in, as long as it wasn't in Slytherin."

"Who is your mother, Ms. Tonks?"

"Andromeda Tonks, sir."

The name didn't ring a bell. "Her maiden name."

"Andromeda Black."

Ah, that was it then. He recognized Bella and Narcissa's elder sister's name, but he had never met the woman, nor had he ever seen a picture of her. Narcissa had never mentioned her, but he remembered Bella muttering something about Andromeda marrying a muggle and that being the reason she was forced to marry Rudolphus Lestrange.

The irony that Andromeda Black's daughter would end up in Slytherin wasn't lost on him. But after mulling that over for a bit—and thinking that Bella would really get a kick out of this when he told her later that night—he came back to the task at hand.

"Ms. Tonks, you have no doubt heard about this house's reputation from other people, and you have no doubt been informed that many of the Death Eaters sitting in Azkaban right now were Slytherins and yes, they committed horrible atrocities for which they must pay. However, you are confusing two issues. You are assuming that they are evil _because_ they are Slytherins, not that they were raised evil by their parents and simply _ended_ _up_ in Slytherin."

"But everybody always talks about how Slytherins end up doing drugs, dropping out, go to prison—"

"Or in some cases all three, Ms. Tonks, as I can personally vouch for."

She gave him a startled look, clearly not having expected him to admit to his own checkered past.

"Have you ever been told what qualities make a Slytherin, Ms. Tonks?"

"You have to be pure-blood, malicious, greedy and willing to do anything to anybody to get what you want."

"Considering that you yourself and more than half of this house isn't pure-blood, your first statement is obviously erroneous. Blood lines have nothing to do with magical ability or strength of character. In fact, if we were to look very closely at inbreeding, it actually leads to more mental weakness and insanity than anything else, but that's not the point. As for your other qualifiers, do you think there aren't Gryffs, Claws and Puffs around who are malicious, greedy and use people?"

She frowned slightly. "No, sir. I just think most people in Slytherin are as well."

"Then you don't know your colleagues yet. I suggest getting to know your other Slytherins before painting them all with a rather cruel brush. Now, since you didn't know the answer to my question, I will answer it for you. Slytherins are known for their intelligence, but unlike Ravenclaws, who only use that intelligence where books are concerned, Slytherins use it all day for all things. We are ambitious, true, but not malicious and we aren't cruel to others unless they are cruel to us first. We are strong and stubborn, much like Gryffs, but we don't allow our logic and common sense to fly out the window like they do. And we are loyal to each other, like Puffs are, because like Puffs, if we aren't loyal to each other, then nobody will be. Do you understand me, Ms. Tonks?"

"You mean Slytherins are much like everybody else?"

"With some key differences. Everybody has things in common, Ms. Tonks, but each house has certain qualities in differing amounts and places differing values on those qualities. However, years of neglect let this house sink into the rot it's currently trying to get out of, and the prejudices of the rest of the school and the wizarding world haven't helped. If somebody spends your whole time in this school telling you you are going to be evil and worthless and deserve nothing but a lifetime in Azkaban, would you honestly believe otherwise?"

"Well, no, sir. Unless I had other people to say they're wrong."

"I'm telling you they're wrong. It is our mission as Slytherins to show the world what being a Slytherin really means, Ms. Tonks. We are not evil, we are not losers and we are certainly not muck to be trampled on. The rest of the world is against us and the hundreds of former Slytherins who have gone astray stand against us to prove us wrong, but that's why we have to fight to show who we truly are."

She bit her lip and looked at him, a vast improvement from staring at the floor. "I still don't think my mother will like me being in Slytherin."

"Then it's up to you to show her that you being in Slytherin shouldn't just be something she tolerates, but it should be something she should be proud of."

"That will take a lot of work, sir."

"Which is why it's most important that we stop chattering and you get to bed, so you can start tomorrow morning."

She gave him a grin, her face lighting up for the first time since she had put the sorting hat on.

"Alright, sir. Good night."

"Good night, Ms. Tonks. And remember, if you're not going to be proud of who you are and show the world why you're proud of it, nobody else will be either."

She thrust her chin out and nodded firmly. "Yes, sir."

And so another year of fighting for those Cups and the respect their house deserved started.

XXXXXX

Shading his eyes against the early morning sun, Severus stared up at where Carling was chasing Raymond on their brooms, Raymond having forgotten about the Snitch whizzing around below him and only focused on throwing fearful glances at the manic glee on Carling's face as she followed, ramming her bat into a Bludger to keep it ahead of her and directed at Raymond.

"Mr. Webster, get away from Ms. Dayton!" He yelled up.

"I'm trying, sir! She's like a bloody hornet! She's trying to kill me with that Bludger!"

Leland and Tonks laughed from where they sat in the bleachers below him.

Severus sighed. "Ms. Dayton is trying to simulate what the Ravenclaw Beaters are like, Mr. Webster! It's your job to get away from her and keep yourself focused on the Snitch!"

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Carling took aim and pelted the Bludger at Raymond, nailing him square in the back and nearly sending him off his broom.

"Ow! She just nailed me with the Bludger, sir! And she's laughing like a pixie! Carling, shut up! That hurt!"

Leland and Tonks nearly fell over, laughing and struggled to not spill the hot chocolate they had cradled in their hands.

"Mr. Webster, quit yelling at Ms. Dayton! Get that damn Snitch!"

XXXXXX

Severus strode up the aisle, glancing over people's shoulders. He stopped by Miranda's desk. "Ms. Welton, re-check the proper translation of that last rune on your third line."

Miranda frowned, glancing at it. "Yes, sir." She picked up her wand and summoned the enormous ancient rune dictionary Severus kept in a cupboard by his desk and started flipping through it.

He kept going, pausing to watch two fifth years playing cards quietly and then continued, stopping to read over Tonk's shoulder.

"Ms. Tonks, do you know how to use a period?"

She frowned at him. "You mean like at the end of a sentence, sir?"

"Yes."

"Uhm, sure I do."

"From the fact that your entire first paragraph on levitation charms is one enormous run-on sentence, I doubt it."

"Well, where do I put the period in, sir?"

"Read the sentence out loud to yourself and try to hear where a natural pause might come in. That's where you end your sentence."

"What if I can't hear it?"

"Get your hearing checked and ask Mr. Webster sitting beside you to listen."

"Yes, sir."

He kept walking, reaching the front of the room where small cauldrons sat, their contents bubbling and hissing quietly while a few students milled around, chopping and mixing.

"Mr. Alanson, when are you intending on adding that rat blood?"

"After ensuring the ratios of both solutions are exact and adding the stabilization charms."

"And why do we use stabilization charms?"

"To ensure that even if our ratios aren't exactly precise, the potion won't blow up, sir."

"Good. Five points to Slytherin. Continue." He sniffed the air and then glanced at the cauldron at the far end.

"Mr. Debair?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Unless you're intending to pay me for wasting ingredients, I would use a level of fire that wouldn't render the slugs useless."

Nicholas cringed. "Yes, sir."

"Three points from Slytherin."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't burn any more ingredients and we won't lose any more points, Mr. Debair. It's that simple. Evanesco! Start the potion again. I don't want any mistakes this time around, or tomorrow in class so you can earn those points back."

"Yes, sir."

XXXXXX

"Very good, Mr. Debair. Does everybody see what height Mr. Debair's flame is? Why is this level important, Mr. Debair?"

"To keep the slugs from burning, sir."

"Good. Ten points for knowing that and fifteen for making a perfect example of today's potion."

Nicholas grinned and smirked at the Ravenclaws who were glaring at him, half of them standing before perfect potions too.

"Guess you all weren't perfect enough, huh?" he whispered to them before grabbing the vial his partner handed him to load a sample of his potion for marking.

XXXXXX

Carling finished smudging a snake onto her brother's face with the green face paint and then used both hands to smear green paint onto his hair, turning it bright green.

"Carling! The Professor will kill us!"

"No, he won't. He's always saying we have to support our house no matter what. Besides, it'll wash out, ninny!" She grinned and turned away from her brother and saw Tonks standing nearby. "Hey, Tonks! Get over here and get some paint on! You're all going to be lazing around the stands while we work so you might as well have some bloody team spirit!"

Cameron glanced up where he was using his wand to flick frayed threads off his Quidditch uniform. "And with that kind encouragement, who wouldn't want to do what Carling says?"

Carling stuck her tongue at the seventh year—technically eight year. "You watch it Alanson, or you'll have a permanently green face."

"Oh, yeah? Bring it on, Dayton!" Cameron laughed, flicking a thread at her. With a growl, Carling stuck her hands in the face paint and lunged at their team captain, who hurriedly threw his uniform behind him to save it before flying off the couch with Carling wrapped around him, smearing green paint all over him.

Leland rolled his eyes at them before stepping away from the chaos and coming over to Tonks.

"If you want I can do a snake for you. I can draw them really well according to the Professor."

Tonks grinned. "Okay. Can you do some on my arms too?"

Leland grinned back. "Sure. Roll up your robes."

Sitting on the couch beside them were some older girls who were putting finishing touches on an enormous charmed banner that had their house's name on it and some snakes that were charmed to move and hiss rather convincingly.

"Did the Professor say he'll make it larger here?"

"No. He said to bring it out to the pitch and spread it out and then he'll make it larger before he goes to sit with the other teachers."

She grinned. "Awesome. We might actually win today."

Carling stopped wrestling with Cameron and glanced up. "Might? _Might_? What kind of bloody optimism is that? I'll—"

Whatever she was going to yell was lost when Cameron twisted his legs around hers and sent her sprawling onto the ground.

Before she could get her revenge, Raymond stuck his head into the common room, rolled his eyes at the usual chaos and yelled out that the Professor was telling everybody to get up to the pitch already.

XXXXXX

"If everybody could please get out your papers and put them on your desks, I'll collect them." Professor Flitwick called out, readying his wand.

Nicholas Debair bent over and rummaged in his bag for his paper. He knew he had it in there somewhere. He'd worked on this paper for four days during tutorial and had rewritten it three times after the Professor had proofread it and criticized the hell out of it. He was still looking for it when Flitwick summoned the papers to himself, put them in a neat pile on his desk and then turned to the board to write up that day's lesson.

"Hey! Hey, wait a bloody minute! I didn't turn mine in yet!" Nicholas cried out, finally finding his paper and holding it up with careful hands.

Professor Flitwick turned back from the board mid-sentence, staring at Nicholas. He blinked and everybody in the class turned to stare at the third year Slytherin who had never handed in a single paper his whole five years at the school.

"You finished the assignment, Mr. Debair?"

Nicholas held up his paper. "Duh! Why do you think I'm waving this parchment around?"

Professor Flitwick smiled and was about to flick his wand to send the paper zooming up to his desk but Nicholas covered the roll of parchment with his arms.

"Hey! Don't even think about it! What if you set it on fire or something?"

"Mr. Debair, I assure you—"

"Uh uh! You're not touching my paper with magic, sir. This paper took me four days to do!" Getting out of his seat, he marched to the front of the class and carefully placed it to the top of the pile.

On his way back to his seat, he saw some of the Gryffindors sneering and rolling their eyes at him. He stopped at one of their desks and loomed over it, staring the smaller third year in the face.

"You got a problem with me handing in my homework?"

The third year opened his mouth to retort back a smart reply but he suddenly felt boots on the chair on either side of him as the Slytherins sitting on either side of him turned to stare at him and put their boots on his chair.

"Uhm, no."

Nicholas gave him a cheery smile. "Good. Wouldn't want to have a problem with my good little Gryff friends, now would we?"

Rolling his eyes at the two other Slytherins, he returned to his chair and got out his quill and parchment to start taking notes.

XXXXXX

Tonks concentrated, pointed her wand at the small feather lying on the floor before her and slowly and clearly said: "Wingardium Leviosa."

As before, she felt herself stumble backwards slightly but the feather didn't move.

"Sir, it's not working!" she called over to where Severus was watching Cameron and Miranda practicing shield charms.

He finished helping move Miranda's wrist through the manoeuvre and told her he would be back shortly before weaving amongst the spells, pillow and people flying around the duelling chamber.

"Do it again, Ms. Tonks."

She complied and again felt herself shifting slightly backwards and the feather didn't move.

Severus stopped and stared at her for a long moment, looking like he couldn't decide whether to laugh or yell.

"Ms. Tonks?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You're holding your bloody wand backwards."

Tonks stared down at her wand. "You mean it doesn't work both ways?"

Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, Ms. Tonks, it does not. Turn the bloody thing around and try it now."

She did, and moments later, the feather was floating below her nose. She felt laughter bubbling up inside her and she stared at Severus, who stared back at her before she couldn't help herself and dissolved into laughter, turning away from her head of house who was rolling his eyes at her.

"We never had this conversation, Ms.Tonks!" he yelled back over his shoulder at her.

"Yes, sir!" she gasped out, still bent over and laughing hysterically.

XXXXXX

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Very good, Ms. Tonks! Finally! I told you all you needed was a bit of practice. Five points for Slytherin!"

XXXXXX

"Ms. Dayton, we have been over this ad nauseum. You cannot throw furniture around in the classroom—especially not a glass greenhouse. Professor Sprout was right to give you detention."

"But Leland had his hand up to answer the question she asked and Professor Sprout didn't pick him! She looked right at him and didn't pick him."

"And the proper way to deal with this is to throw furniture and lose your house points, Ms. Dayton?"

"Well, no, sir."

"No is right. Behaving rashly won't get you the results you want. Now, how many points did the Puffs get?"

"Five, sir."

"Then you best spend your detention scrubbing the greenhouse windows and thinking of a way to get those five points out of the Puff glass and into our own."

Carling frowned and then grinned. "Alright, sir."

"We are Slytherins, Ms. Dayton. Start to behave in a manner that doesn't embarrass your house or me in such a way."

"Yes, sir."

XXXXXX

"Sir! Sir!"

"Ms. Tonks, there's no reason to shout. I'm not deaf and I'm not even two feet away from you."

"I got myself twenty points today, sir! Five from Professor McGonagall, five from Professor Flitwick and ten from Professor Quirrel!"

"Well done, Ms. Tonks. Keep it up."

"That Cup is ours this year, sir! I can just feel it!"

XXXXXX

Hearing a gentle knock on his office door, Severus glanced up, seeing Cameron hovering just outside the open door.

"Come on in, Mr. Alanson."

"Thank you, sir."

"All packed up and ready to get on that train one last time?"

He smiled. "Yes, sir."

"How does it feel to be graduated?"

His smile widened. "Really good, sir. I couldn't have done this well without your help. Thank you."

Severus waved it off. "I merely pushed and gave you some tools to use, Mr. Alanson. You were the one who put the work in. Do you know where you plan to go?"

"I'm actually thinking about applying at the university, sir."

"What subjects?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'm going to take the summer off and think about it."

"Do that. The tuition is too expensive for you to be taking courses that you don't enjoy or don't need in the long run."

"Yes, sir. And, sir?"

"Yes?"

Cameron shifted a bit. "Uhm, I know I'm graduated now and I'm not technically a part of the house anymore—"

"You will always be a part of this house, Mr. Alanson. Always."

He grinned again. "That's cool, sir. Thank you. And I wanted to ask if, well, am I allowed to come back and visit?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Everybody usually can't wait to get out of here and you want to come back after you're legally allowed to go?"

He shrugged. "I still want to support the house, sir. I have a lot of friends here now and we still haven't won those Cups. I feel like I'm backing out of a war half way through."

"You're not running off, Mr. Alanson. You graduated."

"I know, sir. But I still kind of feel like I'm leaving before the job's done. Would it be alright if I swing by from time to time?"

Severus smiled. "Well, we are losing our Quidditch captain and Keeper. I'm going to need replacements next year. Who better to help pick both than the person who held both positions? Besides, I can always use extra help during practices and tutorial if you have some spare time."

Cameron grinned. "Definitely, sir."

XXXXXX

Severus stared at the quiet, dejected Slytherins sprawled around the common room.

"Alright, I've had enough of this moping. We did very well this year."

Carling rolled her eyes. "We lost, sir."

"And we didn't get the Cups. Either of them," Raymond put in.

Nods and dejected frowns accompanied that statement. Severus sighed loudly.

"You are all forgetting that this is a work in progress. Look at what we accomplished this year! We beat Ravenclaw and nearly beat Hufflepuff for the Quidditch Cup, and we came in third place for the House Cup! Not fourth! And we were only twenty one points behind the second place winners. Where were we last year? We didn't win any matches and we came in fourth place for everything. And the year before that? We didn't even have a team and we didn't have any points in that glass upstairs! If that isn't improvement, then what the hell is?"

Leland poked his sister in the side with an elbow. "He's right, you know. We might not have won yet, but we're getting there."

Tonks nodded eagerly, sitting up. "And we'll do even better next year. And the one after that too. We'll get those Cups next year. Right?"

She scowled at the rest of her house when she got no response. "Unless you're all going to give up and prove the rest of the school right. They still think we're nothing but losers, and you being all mopey won't change those attitudes! Now, we'll go have a long summer, get ready for another year and then come back and keep on with the fight."

Severus bit back a smile. "Well said, Ms. Tonks."

She grinned at him.


	12. Chapter 12

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 12

A/N: Once again, thanks for all the wonderful feedback! It's great to have people still interested in the story. Is anybody else excited for this Saturday? I know I am. I will be continuing the story even if I end up being mistaken about some things.

Dalamis asked if I'm going to be focusing more on Snape's feelings like I did in the first two parts. I will be focusing more on Snape in upcoming chapters, but for now, I'm busy exploring Slytherin house and laying the foundation for later chapters. Enjoy!

'In war, you say a prayer for your dead and ride on, because there is always another fight over the next horizon.'

- 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan

School Year, 1984 – 1985

Hogwarts School

Raymond poked his head into Severus' office where he was putting the finishing touches on his first day's lesson plan.

"Sir?"

"Come in, Mr. Webster."

Raymond came in and stood before his desk, Miranda appearing beside him, both of them grinning widely.

Both of them had their chests puffed out, shiny green and silver Prefect badges on their robes.

Severus glanced at them, finishing one last scrawl on his Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw third year plan.

"We wanted to thank you for making us Prefects, sir. It means a lot. Slytherin hasn't had any Prefects in a long time."

Severus smiled. "I know. Which is why your conduct in the next year will be extremely important. The others in the house will look to you to set an example for the rest of the school and for them. I didn't only select you two because you have always worked hard in your classes, but you have worked hard to get this house back on its feet. Having said that, I don't want your Prefect duties to interfere with Quidditch."

"Of course not, sir," Miranda said, still grinning. "Thanks again, sir."

"Just don't disappoint me or the house and that will be thanks enough."

XXXXXX

"Alright, once more round the pitch as a cool down and then we're done for today. Or was there something else, Professor?" Cameron yelled up to where Severus was sitting with the other watching Slytherins.

"No, that will be all for today. Well done, everybody. Mr. Webster, if you could put all the brooms away and Ms. Welton the balls. Mr. Alanson, a word if you please?"

Cameron jogged up the bleachers to him. "Yes, sir?"

"You've seen all the potential Keepers now. What do you think?"

"Derrick seems to be the best out of all of them. He's not top-notch yet, but with the right drills, he'll be alright."

Severus frowned down at the small group making their way to the castle, Derrick Sommers illustrating a particularly impressive save with wind milling arms to the others around him.

"I agree. Do you want to give him the good news?"

Cameron grinned. "That would be great, sir. Thank you."

"And one more thing, Mr. Alanson."

"Yes?"

"What do you think of Ms. Dayton as team captain?"

"Carling?"

"Yes."

Cameron turned to watch Carling using her bat to beat her Bludger back into its box, scowling at it and then grinning with glee once it was in and Miranda slammed the box lid shut.

"She's a bit intense, sir."

"Obviously. But do you think she'd be captain material?"

"I actually do, sir. As insane as it sounds. How long have you been considering it?"

"I put her through some leadership skill building drills over the summer and she actually did very well. Most importantly, she's always been awfully quick at coming up with plays that bend the rules a bit but don't break them."

Cameron smirked, well used to his head of house encouraging his players to find 'creative' ways of getting ahead, even if the other houses hated them for it. If the people who had made up the rules for Quidditch hadn't thought to include such and such as being an illegal play, that wasn't their fault. "Do you have anybody else in mind, sir?"

"Not at the moment. Let's give her a trial period of the first game. If she performs adequately, she can keep the position."

"She'll get a kick out of that, sir."

Severus stared down at where Carling was insisting on using magic to help Miranda carry the box back into the shed, despite the fact that she nearly took Miranda's head off when the box first jerked into the air. Miranda leapt out of the way and then stayed down, laughing too hard to be of any help anyway.

"Ms. Dayton?"

She looked over, keeping the box suspended with her wand. "Yes, sir?"

"Once you're finished, come over here. I have a proposition for you."

"I'll be right there, sir," she yelled over to him, scowling at the box and making it fly faster towards the shed.

Cameron chuckled. "She's something else, huh?"

Severus bit back another smile and then glanced at his former student. "Are you hungry, Mr. Alanson?"

"Oh! I was planning on just nipping down to Hogsmeade, sir. I don't want to eat up somebody else's food."

"You will always be welcome at the school, Mr. Alanson, and you are more than welcome to eat with us. As long as you don't mind sitting with the other students."

"With the other Slytherins? Of course not, sir! They're my people."

With a grin, Cameron jogged down the bleachers, grabbing Leland and Tonks along the way and declaring that if they wanted any pancakes, they better get to the Hall before him.

XXXXXX

Severus lowered himself in his usual seat between Minerva and the headmaster in the staff stands before the pitch and watched his team make their way across the field to the changing rooms, Carling in the lead with her chin stuck in the air and glaring ferociously at the crowd.

He heard the usual boos and jeers from the crowd, but then heard an enormous cheer coming from the green part of the stands, the noise drowning out the boos and nearly throwing Severus out of his chair.

It took him only moments to realize his Slytherins had used the Sonorus charm to make themselves louder, and wondered briefly which one of them had looked it up and taught it to the others.

In the middle of the screaming green crowd, he saw Tonks, jumping up and down and waving green and silver handkerchiefs and screaming and cheering loudly, painted head to toe green, even her hair.

He ignored the dirty looks from the other teachers and the boos still humming below the cheering coming from his Slytherins and settled back to watch the game.

XXXXXX

Severus looked up from the window he was staring out of when the headmaster stepped into his office.

"Headmaster. I'm sorry to intrude—"

"Don't be ridiculous, Severus, you never intrude. You know that. So, today was a very important day."

Severus smiled. "Yes, sir. I've just been to see my probation officer. I'm finished probation."

"No more curfew?"

"No more curfew. It'll be a relief being able to collect Moonshine Moss and other things in the Forest again without relying on Gorgon or Hagrid. Gorgon's eyesight is shoddy now and Hagrid crushes the delicate leaves to a pulp by the time I get them."

Albus chuckled. "I'm sure they'll be equally pleased to hear your curfew is lifted. I'm very proud of you, dear. I had no doubt you would keep to the ministry's restrictions."

"It wasn't difficult, thanks to you."

"What you've done for me and this school over the past three years is thanks enough, Severus."

"Slytherin house still has a ways to go, sir."

"You think this will be the year?"

"We'll see, sir."

XXXXXX

Annoyed, Carling turned to the whispering Hufflepuffs behind her and glared at them over her telescope.

"Hey! You three want to shut the hell up? I'm trying to listen!"

"Ms. Dayton!" Professor Sinistra wound her way across the top of the tower to Carling and glared down at her.

"Such language and volume is completely uncalled for in my class!"

Carling pointed at the Hufflepuffs behind her. "They'd been talking for ten minutes already, Professor! I was trying to listen and they were inter—"

"I don't care, Ms. Dayton! You spoke out of turn, rudely and loudly and I warned you before, it will not be tolerated. Twenty points from Slytherin and detention."

Fuming, Carling was about to scream something back at her, but then held her tongue before she lost her house more points and turned back to her telescope. She was a Slytherin, she reminded herself. There were other ways of getting those twenty points back than yelling at the snickering Puffs behind her. Grinning to herself, she went back to plotting Mars' position on her map.

XXXXXX

"Ms. Dayton, we've been over this all a hundred times. You know all of this like the back of your hand. You'll do fine on the quiz tomorrow."

Carling scowled, staring down at her notes still, Leland fast asleep on the desk beside her and Severus nearly nodding off too where he sat on her other side.

"Sir, I need to do really, really well on that astronomy quiz tomorrow! I need to get those points back, sir! Even if she was stupid and took them for no good reason, I need to get them back! We're only three points ahead of Hufflepuff, sir! Three!"

"You already got fifteen points taken away from Hufflepuff this morning, Ms. Dayton."

Carling grinned. "You heard about that, sir? It was good, wasn't it? Leland and I followed those Puff girls and Leland ran ahead and told me when a Professor was about to come, and then Leland hexed me right when we were passing them and then I made sure I stood in a way that made it seem like they had hexed me. And then Professor Flitwick came around the corner and took fifteen points off the Puffs since we said they hexed us. Leland almost managed to cry since those Puffs had 'hexed his poor innocent sister.'"

Severus struggled to hide a smile. "A much better solution than throwing furniture, huh?"

"Oh, much better, sir. They were positively fuming! But anyway, I still have to get those points tomorrow! I'm not letting those Puffs get ahead of us again."

"Very well, Ms. Dayton. Let's go over this one more time. From the outer edge of our solar system, the order of the planets are?"

XXXXXX

Raymond patiently put up shield after shield deflecting the jinxes his Ravenclaw opponent threw his way, waiting until Professor Quirrel was looking his way. He wouldn't get points for doing something nobody was paying attention to.

As soon as the Professor was looking at him, Raymond flicked his wand like Professor Snape had showed him and practiced with him over the past week and sent his opponent flying across the classroom and landing in the pile of pillows with a muffled curse.

Raymond glanced at Professor Quirrel, who stared at him coldly and then was about to turn away without a word.

Raymond clenched his jaw, knowing that the other Ravenclaws in the class had already earned themselves loads of points for just managing to nudge their opponent a bit, never mind bowl them over. He had done the spell perfectly.

"Professor, that was a really nicely done spell, don't you think?" he called over.

Professor Quirrel slowly turned back and stared at him. "I've seen better, Mr. Webster."

"You mean the miniscule effort these Claws are putting into it? I think mine was done a bit better, Professor, and if they got points for their efforts, surely I should get some for mine."

Professor Quirrel sneered at him and was about to say something else but Raymond gave him a pleasant smile.

"Or perhaps we should go ask Professor Snape what he thinks of my efforts concerning this particular spell."

Quirrel went a bit pale and his eyes widened slightly. Whether the Professor was afraid of their head of house because of his past reputation or his current demeanour didn't matter to Raymond. All he knew was that he deserved those points and he would get them.

Quirrel glared at him, obviously debating something in his head before he snarled: "Ten points to Slytherin."

Smiling sweetly at him, Raymond turned back to his opponent, who was just now struggling to his feet.

"Thank you ever so much, Professor. It's good to feel so appreciated."

XXXXXX

"Professor Snape! Profes—!"

Severus paused, half way down the stairs to the dungeons. Tonks was sprinting up behind him, only to trip on the hem of her robe and do a face plant in the middle of his name.

Sighing, he flicked his hand and hauled her back up, well used to the second year's clumsiness by now.

He had never known anybody who broke, spilt, or dropped everything put into her hands or who tripped and fell over anything in her path. He had seriously considered confining her to the dungeons where things were a lot more solid then the shifting staircases upstairs. But since he had lowered the wards around all the doorways a few months ago, allowing everybody to have free reign of the castle like the other students, and so far, nobody had committed a serious enough infraction for him to reconsider, he let her roam around.

Gasping for breath, she straightened her robe. "Oops, sorry about that, sir."

"What can I do for you, Ms. Tonks? Tutorial is about to start."

"Yes, sir. I was just heading down to get my books. I wanted to ask you if you could help me with my hair, sir."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like a hair dresser, Ms. Tonks?"

She snorted with laughter. "No, sir. Not that kind of help. You see, I wanted to make my hair green but without dying it."

"Now? The match isn't for another week." He turned and continued down the stairs towards the potions classroom, from where he could already hear chairs scraping and people demanding to know who was doing what first.

"Yes, sir. But if we win this one, we'll be going to the finals for the first time ever! And Carling is working the team so hard and I want to support the team as best as I can."

"So, the green hair."

"Yes, sir."

Severus stared down at her eager smile. He knew Tonks was a metamorph, and quite a skilled one if her childhood accidents were anything to go by. But her mother hadn't known how to help develop her skills and Hogwarts didn't cater to individual magical talents such as metamorphs.

"You want to morph your hair instead of dying it."

She grinned, nodding eagerly. "Yes, sir. Can you help me?"

"Certainly. Stay behind after tutorial tonight and we'll figure it out."

"Thank you, sir!"

She took off down the corridor to go grab her books from the common room, only to end up falling over Raymond who was rushing from the other direction.

Rolling his eyes at them, Severus ducked into the classroom. Immediately, questions and chatter came flying at him from everywhere.

"Professor, could you look over my Transfiguration essay, please? I'm not at all sure I explained myself well in that second paragraph. Personally, it sounds alright to me, but Professor McGonagall said my last one sounded like I'd put a confundus charm on myself before writing it and I thought that one was quite well done."

"Sir, what's the difference between a selectively permeable and a semi-permeable shield? These textbooks all say five different things."

"Carling, give me back my quill! You already nicked my last three! I don't care if you need it to do homework, I need to do homework too! What do you mean 'do I need to do it right now'? Of course I do! We're only seven points behind the Claws! We could sail past them tomorrow if I hand in my assignment and if you give me back my ruddy quill!"

"Professor, could I get some more rat tails from the store's cupboard? You wanted me to redo that potion we were working on today in class."

"Hey, Webster! What page did Quirrel say the questions on Grindylows was on? Seventy-three? Bloody hell, Nick, you moron, why did you write down seventeen? No wonder we haven't won the Cup so far! You can't even write down simple instructions right. Merlin's sake! Why do I sit beside you?"

XXXXXX

Severus couldn't believe it as he lowered himself into his usual seat in the stands.

They had made it to the finals. They had actually made it to the finals.

Since they had lost their last match to Hufflepuff by just one goal—and nearly been disqualified after Carling threw a fit and threatened to throw her bat at the Hufflepuff Chaser's head—Severus thought for sure they wouldn't make it to the finals.

But when the numbers had been crunched and total scores had been added, they had been informed that Slytherin and Gryffindor had the top combined scores for that year, placing them head to head for the Cup.

Professor McGongall hadn't let him forget that fact ever since the decision was announced. The two of them had been making snide comments to each other ever since, both of their pride in their own houses not allowing them to keep Quidditch out of their usual civil relationship.

The fact that Pomona Sprout openly favored the Gryffindors and Filius didn't have any interest in it now that his house was out of the running didn't help matters.

It wasn't lost on him either that he was the only one who was wearing green in the staff stands, asides from the headmaster, who always more a bit of each house's colors to seem fair. Every teacher who didn't have their own house wore something that was red, except for Hagrid and Filius, who didn't care about the outcome and had just come to watch a good game.

He glanced down at where his house was cheering their team coming out of the changing rooms. Giant charmed banners with their house name on it and slithering, shimmering snakes floated above jumping, screaming Slytherins. Most of them were decked out in green and silver head to toe, and some like Tonks were literally green head to toe, having practiced for days how to change her hair color and skin's pigmentation to be a proper green. Everybody had given her double takes over the past few days, but Tonks declared that she didn't care. She was going to support her house and it didn't matter what anybody thought about it.

Squinting, Severus could make out Emma Treagle waving green handkerchiefs behind Tonks, and Leland standing beside Cameron, who had dropped by to watch the finals.

Then his team came marching back out of the changing rooms with their brooms, grinning and waving at the cheering Slytherins in the stands and giving the rest of the school the finger, which Severus pretended not to notice.

Carling stopped when they reached Madame Hooch and glared at the Gryffindor captain when they were forced to shake hands, Carling looking like she was trying to crush his hand.

Then they mounted their brooms and Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and they were off.

Professor McGonagall glanced at Severus out of the corner of her eye. "You think this might be your year, Professor Snape?"

Severus didn't look at her, keeping his eyes glued to the players zipping over the pitch. "I don't think, Professor McGonagall, I know it is."

She smiled smugly. "We'll see. I hope you're not expecting us to go easy on your team just because you've made it this far."

"I would be offended if you did, Professor. When we beat you, I want it to have been an even match."

"We shall see."

They both fell silent, watching the game far below them.

Severus didn't allow himself to get overly excited. They had already done better this year in Quidditch and house points to surpass their previous year's efforts. Even if they didn't win either Cup again, they had already done extremely well this year. He had told his house he would be content if they just scrapped together a handful of goals during the finals to add onto their house score along with their previous Quidditch scores.

But if they did win that Cup—

No. He wouldn't let himself get overly excited. It would be difficult enough to console his hundreds of disappointed Slytherins if they lost. Not to mention that his team captain might end up storming around the castle in a homicidal rage if they lost.

He turned his attention back to the game just in time to see Miranda score a goal on the Gryff Keeper. Smiling, he glanced up at the scoreboard. They had scored three goals and the Gryffs had scored none.

Their Chasers were on fire today. Severus could see how the combination of Cameron's drills, his pushing and Carling's bullying had made their Chasers faster and better. They all flew keeping low on their brooms and tucking the Quaffle so tight against their bodies that no amount of pulling would loosen it. Severus knew. He had made the oldest and strongest Slytherins try. They flew in predetermined patterns, always keeping an eye out for their fellow Chasers, keeping their eyes on each other and the goal, knowing from each other's movement where they would fly and what access they each had to the goal. Carling and the other Beater circled around them, bats raised and weaving amongst the Chasers, keeping the other Chasers and Beaters away, and keeping half an eye on their Seeker.

Just as he leaned back in his seat, he saw Raymond spinning on his broom and go streaking through the air towards what was undoubtedly the Snitch. Unfortunately, the Gryff Seeker was closer and he raced towards it, already grinning.

Severus held his breath, ready for their dreams of getting the Quidditch Cup to disappear into smoke again. It would all be over in seconds. There was no way Raymond would make it to the Snitch in time.

Then out of nowhere, Carling came racing towards the Gryff Seeker, her head turned the other way and nearly took his head off as she streaked past him.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle loudly and the crowd booed her but Severus grinned. The Gryff Seeker had recovered from the near collision and was swearing at Carling, who put on an innocent expression and was declaring that she 'hadn't seen him'. It was true so she wouldn't be thrown out of the game. Gryffindor did get a penalty, but by that time, the Snitch had disappeared and they were still in the game.

While waiting for the Gryff Chaser to take her penalty shot, Carling could be heard yelling at Raymond, who yelled back that he couldn't apparate from one end of the pitch to the other and that it wasn't his fault the bloody Snitch had appeared on the other side of the field.

The Chaser scored a goal and the game resumed.

Then the Gryff Chasers managed to score two goals on Derrick, tying the game.

Severus leaned forward, knowing that every goal counted now and if that Snitch appeared again and was caught the game was over.

The fact that they were tied was enough to throw his team in a fevered pitch of excitement. Which also meant they played dirtier.

Carling nailed one of the Chasers hard enough with a Bludger to throw her off her broom and sent her hurtling towards the ground until Madame Hooch caught her.

Nicholas—one of his other chasers— started heckling the Gryff Keeper until he got agitated enough with him to move away from the hoops, allowing Miranda to zip up and score two more goals on a practically empty hoop.

And then the Snitch appeared again. Neither team got it, Raymond having been nailed in the back with a Bludger and being too winded to pursue it and Nicholas having leapt off his broom and tackled the Slyth Seeker mid flight.

They earned a penalty, a tongue lashing from Madame Hooch—with Nicholas insisting he had thought the Seeker had been the Quaffle, since both were big, round and full of air—and the Snitch disappeared again.

Madame Hooch sent Severus a glare, who shrugged, pretending to have no idea where his team got these strategies from.

As long as they didn't kill anybody, he was fine with it. Life wasn't played fairly and Quidditch didn't have to be an exception.

The game continued, Nicholas scoring another goal and Miranda two and the Gryff Chasers scoring one more goal.

Carling had now attached herself to Raymond, ready to help him get the Snitch if it appeared again. Both teams were still close and if Slytherin house wanted that Cup, they had to get that Snitch.

Finally, the Snitch appeared again.

Severus would remember the next ten seconds as being the slowest in his life.

He heard the crowd going dead silent.

He saw the two Seekers spotting the Snitch at nearly the same time and streaking towards it.

He saw Carling keeping pace with Raymond, her bat raised.

He saw Tonks nearly falling out of the stands staring at the Snitch hovering above the ground.

He saw all the Chasers stopping mid air and staring down.

He saw Leland covering his eyes.

He saw Emma's handkerchief's hanging limply from her fingers, her mouth half open.

He felt Minerva digging her fingernails into his arm and only later realized that he was clutching her arm equally hard, both of them leaning forward so far that they nearly tumbled out of the stands.

He saw the pack of two Seekers and his team captain hurled towards the Snitch.

It looked like they would all hit the ground and end up breaking their necks rather than getting the Snitch, but at the last possible second, Raymond yanked his broom slightly to the side, away from the Snitch and Carling took his place right beside the Gryff Seeker.

Just before the Gryff Seeker's hands closed around the golden ball, Carling rammed her shoulder into him and sent both of them off course, tumbling onto the pitch in a heap of robes and a broom.

The Gryff Seeker recovered first and lunged back towards the Snitch, but Raymond had already come back on course and snatched the Snitch, the Gryff Seeker's finger scratching the back of Raymond's hands.

Raymond stared at his closed hand with huge eyes and then stared at Carling, who was picking herself up. The Gryff Seeker was already screaming and pointing at Carling and the rest of the Gryff team landed and followed suit. The Slytherin team was quick to land as well and within moments, everybody was pointing and screaming at each other.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle and landed among them all, gesturing and pointing.

The entire school was on their feet, three quarters of them screaming foul and demanding a penalty and the Slytherins screaming back that it had been fair and they had won.

Even Minerva had let go of his arm and yelled at him that that move hadn't been fair.

Severus smirked at her. "Nothing in life is fair, Professor McGonagall, but if you consult the rules, you'll find there is no penalty against bumping other players."

"You're not allowed to purposely collide with other players!" It was the first time he could remember hearing his former Transfiguration Professor screaming at him.

"And Ms. Dayton didn't, Professor. There is a distinct difference between bumping and colliding." As his team captain well knew, which was why they had practiced such manoeuvres until she had it down pat.

Madame Hooch was blowing her whistle again, gesturing for the two heads of houses and the headmaster to come down.

Once they were all on the pitch, Severus first waded into the throng of arguing players and separated Carling from the two Gryff Beaters who she was on top of and stepped between Miranda, Nicholas and the Gryff Keeper, who looked ready to murder each other.

Then he turned to Madame Hooch and quirked an eyebrow. "I trust there wasn't a misunderstanding, Madame Hooch."

She glared at him. "You and I both know that was a dirty move, Professor Snape."

He smirked. "Maybe. But it was a legal one."

She pressed her lips together and looked like she wanted to spit on him.

Minerva stared at Hooch with wide eyes. "Rolanda, don't tell me that despicable move was legal."

Severus smirked at Hooch and calmly waited until she glared at him and spat that it hadn't technically been against the rules.

Severus smirked at Minerva. "Which would mean what, Madame Hooch?" He asked, still looking at Minerva, who glared back at him.

Madame Hooch looked like she would rather swallow a handful of nails than answer that.

She glared around at the Slytherin team gathering around their head of house, dirty, sweating and wide eyed.

"It means congratulations are in order, Professor Snape. Slytherin house is the winner of this year's Quidditch Cup."

Severus' smirk was replaced by a smile and he spared one last glance at Minerva before he was distracted by his house going crazy.

Carling stared at Madame Hooch. "We won the Cup? We won—we _won_ the bloody Cup?!"

She dropped her broom and turned around, screamed and grabbed Derrick and Miranda around the neck, nearly crushing them.

Raymond looked ready to pass out, still clutching the fluttering Snitch in his hand and Nicholas started jumping up and down, slapping Raymond on the back and whopping.

Within seconds, the rest of his house had realized that they had really won and that the Quidditch Cup was theirs for the first time in over fifteen years.

The sound of hundreds of Slytherins screaming easily drowned out the boos and dejected calls coming from the rest of the school.

A green flood spilled onto the pitch as his entire house climbed down from the stands and ran across the grass, reaching the team and tackling each other in hugs and slaps on the back. Tonks and Cameron were both sobbing and Emma knocked Raymond over when she threw her arms around him. Carling fought through the crowd until she reached her brother and the twins proceeded to nearly strangle each other, both of them yelling something that neither could understand.

Severus failed to notice when the rest of the school went back inside and the stands cleared. A few of the teachers stopped to congratulate him, including the headmaster, who had tears in his eyes and shook his hand firmly and told him they'd all done well. Whatever else the headmaster wanted to say was lost as the screaming, laughing, crying chaos that was his house nearly knocked him over, a loud scream of "We got the Cup! We got the Cup!" rang through the empty pitch.

After the headmaster had stepped away, Severus found himself with an armful of Tonks, who had thrown herself at him. "Sir! Sir! We did it!" She released him and shook his arms as if he had just expressed his disbelief with it.

"I know, Ms. Tonks. I told you we would."

"And I knew we would!"

When his house had calmed down to less psychotic levels, Severus considered going back inside, but then changed his mind.

Pulling out his wand, he summoned all the brooms to him and then summoned the rest of the brooms as well.

"Everybody get on a broom and hang on!" he yelled out.

Nicholas blinked at him. "Don't we have dinner and tutorial soon, sir?"

"Not tonight, Mr. Debair. We've all earned a night off, I think. We'll have dinner brought down to the common room once we're back."

He waited until everybody was more or less on a broom, hopped on his own and then lifted off, tying everybody's brooms navigations to his own.

He heard whoops and cheers coming from behind him as he lifted off, a long stream of green clothed Slytherins behind him.

They circled around the school a few times, winding around the astronomy tower and passing by the Entrance Hall where the rest of the school glared up at them.

Then he directed them towards Hogsmeade, passing over the lake and dipping low enough to get everybody's feet soaked and hearing a few shrieks behind him.

Once they reached Honeydukes, he landed, putting out his wand and catching everybody as they stumbled off their brooms one by one.

When his whole house had landed, he told all they each had two galleons to spend in the sweet shop on whatever they wanted and then they would go over to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer.

A cheer came up from the group of green dressed, sweaty, half laughing and half crying group of students. Passer-bys shot them fearful and disapproving frowns, making a wide berth around them. Severus didn't care and watched them stampede into Honeydukes, letting himself be swept in with them. He made his way to the cash register to cash in the pay cheque he hadn't brought to the bank yet and had kept in his robe just in case they won.

The clerk was staring at them all fearfully as if they were here to blow his shop up, obviously never having seen this many Slytherins in one place and knowing from gossip that having more than one anywhere near by was probably dangerous enough, never mind having hundreds.

"You want what, Professor?" He yelled over the chattering and yelling of students rummaging through his shelves.

"I want to cash in my pay cheque."

He blinked at him. "How much will you be needing cashed out, sir?"

"As much as needed to cover everybody's purchases."

Another blink. "Right. Right."

"Just let me know how much is left over."

"Right."

XXXXXX

A few days later, the total Quidditch scores for the year were added onto the House scores, and even though Slytherin house had won the finals, Gryffindor still got the House Cup. But asides from a few disappointed frowns, his house was happy with their accomplishments that year.

They had come in second place for the House Cup and they had won the Quidditch Cup. A far cry from where they had been five years ago.

After packing, they all stopped to pass by Severus' office, telling him that next year, they'd get both of the Cups, before lugging their belongings up the stairs to the carriages—Severus yelling after them to do their summer reading.

Then Severus got ready for a more or less relaxing summer with the Dayton twins and his elf before tackling the following school year.


	13. Chapter 13

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 13

'Live as though the world were as it should be to show it what it can be.'

- Angel, 'Angel'

Summer, 1985

Hogwarts School

"Professor?"

Severus didn't glance up from the chess board, frowning over the Baron's last move.

"Yes, Mr. Dayton?"

"Can I redecorate the display case, sir?"

Severus blinked at him. "What display case?"

"The one above the mantle in the common room. Where the Quidditch Cup is?"

"Is it in need of redecoration?"

Leland raised an eyebrow at him. "In dire need, sir. It's completely empty except for the Cup."

"Mr. Dayton, I don't have any spare money to spend on decorations."

"That's alright, sir. Carling and I can make them and I can glue parchment onto the back and sides and draw snakes and things on it. Would that be alright?"

"Certainly. But only after your sister is finished that last Transfiguration chapter. It's already half way through July and she's barely started her summer reading."

Leland nodded, eagerly. "Yes, sir. Uhm, can I ask the elves to bring up some snacks while we study and decorate?"

"Nothing that will obliterate your appetites, but yes, a little something is fine. If they have any ginger cookies down there, ask Gabby to bring me a small plate, please."

"Of course, sir."

Leland turned to run out of his living room and down the corridor when Severus called him back.

"Yes, sir?"

"Make sure you leave plenty of room in that display case, Mr. Dayton. Another Cup will be joining that one next year, not to mention that I have no desire to return that Cup to Professor McGonagall or any other Professor any time soon."

Leland grinned. "I know, sir. That's why I wanted to do it."

School Year, 1985 – 1986

Hogwarts School

Stepping into the common room following dinner and Sorting, Severus was still trying to get that horrid noise that the headmaster insisted was the school song out of his head. Up until he had started to teach and had been forced to start attending the Welcoming Feast, he had never heard the school song before.

Well, not the proper version at least. He had heard a rather dirty version from Evans a few times when she was studying and singing it to herself. He had always thought it was some Gryff song her and her friends had made up and had nearly spat pumpkin juice across the staff table the first time he had heard the original version and realized where Evans had got it from.

Shaking thoughts of those days out of his head, Severus glanced over his house, suddenly struck by how old some of his Slytherins were getting.

Little Raymond was now a sixth year. Sixth year!

And Emma Treagle who had been the reason behind the homesickness deluxe potion was now a Prefect.

It was absolutely insane how fast time flew.

Shaking himself out of these thoughts, he faced his house and launched into his usual speech, introducing himself and laying down the house rules regarding detention and/or suspensions, explaining their daily and weekend routines and informing them that the Quidditch team would stay as it was, providing nobody wished to leave or join.

Then he nodded at Nicholas and Miranda who were lounging on two couches, their silver and green Prefect badges shining on their robes.

"And now may I introduce to you your newest Prefects—Nicholas Debair and Emma Treagle." He paused briefly for some hollering, clapping, back slapping and hair ruffling to occur and for an appropriate blush to creep over Emma's face, and then continued. "As I am sure you are all aware, Slytherin house hasn't had the greatest track record with having good, role model Prefects or any Prefects for that matter. Mr. Webster and Ms. Welton did an outstanding job last year and I expect Mr. Debair and Ms. Treagle to continue that trend. First years, if you have any questions or problems with anything, feel free to seek out any of these four individuals and they will be pleased to help you if I am unavailable. Now. Who here hasn't done their summer reading?"

A few of the first years were stupid enough to start raising their hands, but any older students sitting close to them yanked their hands back down. Everybody shot him wide grins and Severus smirked back.

"Just what I thought. As every year, tomorrow's tutorial will be spent reviewing that day's material and doing oral quizzes on the summer reading. For all years." He gave Tonks a hard look, who grinned back innocently.

"Lastly, as we all know, we finally got the Quidditch Cup last year— " He was interrupted by another volley of cheering and clapping, Tonks falling off her couch in her enthusiasm.

"Which means that we still have a ways to go this year. We are not only aiming to finally get our hands on the House Cup, but we will aim to repeat our Quidditch victories from last year. We've all worked very hard and for some of us, we've spent years fighting towards our goal. This year, both Cups are within our grasps and we will get them. We have a beautiful display case now, courtesy of Mr. and Ms. Dayton, and we will be putting those Cups in those empty spaces reserved for them. Are we all clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"I didn't hear you."

"Yes, sir!"

Myrtle was ready for the yell this year and clung onto the railing before she had a chance to fall off.

"We will bring those Cups down to this common room in June and it will be up to everybody in here to do not only their best but to surpass it. We will show this school once and for all that being in Slytherin house is something to be proud of."

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. We have an hour before bed time. Spent it as you wish, but those oral quizzes on the summer reading tomorrow will count for points, as you all know."

XXXXXX

"—and I would re-examine that paragraph concerning Switching Spells, Ms. Treagle."

Emma frowned and re-read what she had written and what Severus had just skimmed over her shoulder. "Is there something wrong with the paragraph, sir? I thought I had understood Professor McGongall."

"I don't believe you understand the underlying theory as clearly as you should, Ms. Treagle. You wrote down the words but I don't believe you truly understand it. The theory is essential for understanding more difficult NEWT material next year."

"Not to mention that Switching Spells are always on the OWLs." A voice put in from behind Severus.

Severus glanced over his shoulder and smiled when he saw Cameron. "Mr. Alanson! What brings you by?"

He shrugged. "I don't have classes tomorrow so I thought I should come by, help out with tutorial and Quidditch tomorrow morning. If you don't mind, sir?"

"Of course not. We have room in the dormitories or I can put up a bed for you in my living room."

"I wouldn't mind discussing some of my class material with you later on tonight, sir."

"Then I will tell Gorgon to transfigure the couch in my quarters for you."

Cameron grinned. "Thank you, sir." When Severus moved away from Emma to call his elf, Cameron took his place, grabbing Emma's paper and skimming it over.

"Yeah, see, I know what the Professor meant, Emma. You're saying the right words, but I don't think you really—"

After conferring with his elf, Severus turned back to the chaos that was tutorial.

"Professor! Professor!" He turned towards the sound just in time to see Tonks waving a handful of parchment at him and then trip over her own feet, upsetting a nearby desk and a cauldron.

"Tonks! Moron! You just spilt my entire Restorative Draft! I was nearly finished with it!"

"I'm so sorry, Miranda! Really!"

"What about me? You just spilt my entire inkwell all over my paper!"

"I'm sorry, Derrick, you know I am!"

Severus wound his way over to the mess and let out a long suffering sigh. "Ms. Tonks, you will help Mr. Sommers and Ms. Welton clean up this mess and restore Mr. Sommer's paper."

Tonks blinked at him. "I know spells to clean it up sir, but I don't know how to restore a paper!"

Severus snapped his fingers and an enormous textbook of spells came flying from the cupboard behind him. Tossing it at Tonks, he raised an eyebrow. "Look it up, practice it and then come get me. Do not attempt it without me to watch, Ms. Tonks. That paper has seen enough damage already."

Already frantically leafing through the enormous textbook, Tonks nodded, Derrick leaning over her shoulder and Miranda turning back to her desk to start chopping new roots.

XXXXXX

"Debair what the hell are you waiting for?! The grass to grow? Fly faster!" Carling screamed up at the Chaser who was zig-zagging down the pitch with the Quaffle, two enchanted Bludgers on his tail, rain pouring down around him.

He managed to twist and loop away from them, the Quaffle tucked under his arms and managed to reach the end of the field and throw it through the hoops.

The minute he was finished, Miranda summoned the Quaffle to herself and took off through the rain, the Bludgers immediately zooming towards her.

"Faster, Welton! What are you, a thousand years old? Move!" Carling screamed up, standing in the middle of the pitch, oblivious to the fact that she was standing in an ankle deep puddle.

On the stands, Leland, Tonks and the rest of the Quidditch team sat beside Severus under an enormous umbrella he had conjured up.

Tonks elbowed Leland in the ribs. "She's the only person I know who doesn't need a Sonorus charm to be heard clear down the pitch in a storm."

Leland snorted and took another sip of his hot chocolate. "Which is why we love her."

Raymond glanced over his shoulder. "Or why we'll all need to use hearing charms by the time we're thirty. Including the Professor."

They all laughed, watching Miranda finish her run and Carling start screaming at the rest of the team to get back on the field to practice a new play she had thought up.

Sighing, Raymond, Derrick and their other Beater handed their hot chocolate mugs to the others sitting around them and trudged back into the rain, grabbing their brooms and going to where Carling screamed and pointed.

"Think of the Cup, guys!" Tonks screamed down to them.

Raymond and Derrick both gave her the finger but straightened their shoulders and got on their brooms with a bit more enthusiasm than before.

XXXXXX

Spencer finished writing down the paragraph Professor Quirrel had put on the board and then lowered his quill.

The Professor turned away from the board and looked at the class. "Now that we know more about Grindylows, does anybody know how one would go about defeating them? Hmm?"

Spencer's hand shot up, knowing this one. Not only had he read about Grindylows in his summer reading, but he had overheard Tonks and another third year talking about them while revising for a test. You had to stun them. It was the only quick and efficient way of dealing with them. When Tonks had asked why other methods weren't good answer, Professor Snape had told her that knowing a dozen ways of defeating something was useless if some of those ways might prove to be insufficient.

Professor Quirrel looked right through Spencer and pretended his hand wasn't raised.

"Anybody? Hmm? Any guesses?"

Spencer pushed his hand higher up, nearly coming out of his chair. "I know, Professor, I know!"

"Nobody? Well, that's quite disappointing. No guesses? Ah, Ms. Wimble!"

The Ravenclaw smirked at Spencer, who dropped his hand back on his desk, feeling disappointed. This had been the perfect opportunity to get his house some points and he hadn't even been allowed to try.

"Shouting at them, sir?"

Spencer nearly laughed. That was wrong. Completely wrong. In fact, the Professor had said Grindylows would be even more inclined to attack you if you attracted attention to yourself in such a way.

Spencer shot his hand up again, feeling smug about being able to correct the arrogant Ravenclaw and getting his points.

But Professor Quirrel ignored his hand again. "Very good, Ms. Wimble. That wasn't exactly right, but I will give you five points for the effort. Now, seeing how nobody knows the answer, we'll all turn to page fifteen in the textbooks and—"

XXXXXX

"—then he gave her five points! Five points for the wrong answer! He said it was a good effort." Spencer scowled, slumped in the chair across from Severus' desk, five minutes before tutorial was set to start.

Severus narrowed his eyes at the first year. "Did you do anything rash, Mr. Creber?"

"No. You always say being rash is a Gryff way of doing things, sir. I would have only lost points."

Severus smiled. "And we're not Gryffs, Mr. Creber, are we?"

"No, sir."

"Mr. Creber, what is the proper way of dealing with a Grindylow?"

Spencer blinked. "Stunning it, sir."

"Good. Five points to Slytherin."

Spencer grinned. "Thank you, sir. At least we're even with the Claws for this one, even if she shouldn't have gotten five points for that rubbish."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Mr. Creber. It just so happens that the situation might be remedied in Potions class tomorrow."

"We don't have Potions with the Claws, sir."

"No. But I have Potions with the Claws. And I have a feeling Ms. Wimble will be doing rather shoddy work tomorrow. Shoddy enough to warrant losing Ravenclaw at least three points."

Spencer grinned and Severus smirked back. "That's really unfortunate for Ravenclaw, sir."

"It really is. Do make sure to express your sympathy when you see Ms. Wimble tomorrow night at dinner."

"Will do, sir."

XXXXXX

Tonks was about to turn around the corner towards the stairs leading down to the dungeons when she saw Carling leaning against the wall further down, staring at the hour glasses facing them.

Tonks grinned and wandered over and leaned against the wall beside her, looking at the four tall hour glasses.

Hufflepuff was in last place with 179 points, Gryffindor was third with 201, they were second with 213 and Ravenclaw was in the lead with 227 points.

"We can do this," Tonks said, looking at the piles of gemstones lying in the bottom of each hour glass.

Carling narrowed her eyes at the Ravenclaw glass. "The Claws are beating us."

"Only by 14 points. We can make that up in less than a week."

"Not if they keep plowing ahead."

Tonks elbowed the older girl in the side. "Where's your optimism, Dayton?"

"It died when it crawled up your arse, Tonks."

Tonks snorted. "You know we can do this. We just have to keep doing our homework, working hard in tutorial and try to be good in class and answer as many questions as we can."

"No matter how hard we work, those moron professors don't want us to win and they do anything they can do stop it. Remember a month ago when Quirrel wouldn't call on Spencer and give him those points and gave them to that Claw instead? Last week, Leland handed in a perfect paper to Sprout and she claims he never handed it in and gave him a zero and took off ten points for him handing it in again since it was late. Then Sinistra accused Nick of damaging one of her telescopes when the old thing's been busted for ten years and gives him detention and takes twenty points from him. It's not bloody fair."

Tonks frowned and faced her. "No, it's not. Which is why it's so damn important that we keep going and show them that it doesn't matter how they treat us but we'll still win! We're Slytherins, Carling! We don't take crap from anybody and if somebody wants to brings us down, we don't give up, we fight back and make them regret the day they ever laid eyes on us."

Carling stared at her and then back at the hour glasses. "You really think we can do this?"

"I know we can. Professor Snape knows we can, and deep down, we all know we can too. We'll show them, Carling. We'll show them all that Slytherins are a force to be reckoned with and we don't take crap from anybody without hitting back and hitting back hard!"

"You listen to the Professor too much, you know that?"

"He's right, and you know it!"

Carling sighed. "I know. It's just hard sometimes."

"We just have to stick together and push through. We can do this, Dayton, damn it!"

Carling didn't respond and they went back to leaning against the wall, staring at the hour glasses.

When a group of Gryffindors walked by and glanced at the glasses and then laughed at the two of them, Tonks and Carling glared back.

"Oh, you keep laughing, you bloody morons! Take a look at those glasses and tell me who's in second place and who's sitting so far behind us that you couldn't even see our arses if you squint?" Carling yelled after them when they kept walking.

Tonks bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

With an attitude like that, how could they lose?

XXXXXX

Severus watched Carling finish describing their defensive game plan and then order everybody to get on their brooms so they could try it. He went back to the charts on his lap, on which he had written all his Slytherin's names and was busy constructing their review schedules for their final exams. Finals weren't for months but it was never too early to start revising the September and October material.

He looked up again to study the movement of the Chasers and Beaters and Derrick's position in front of the hoops in relation to them. Good. Just like he, Cameron and Carling had drawn on the board after tutorial yesterday.

He went back to his charts, scribbling in subjects and specific topics under certain dates for each student. At first he had done the revision schedule specific to each year, but then realized that certain students had difficulties with certain subjects and needed more time on certain things, so he did individual schedules.

After a while of scribbling and listening to brooms and Quaffles and Bludgers zipping past and listening to Carling yelling and cursing at her team, a shadow fell over his charts and Emma Treagle sat down beside him.

She watched the practice for a moment before she glanced at him. "Do you need a hand, sir?"

He handed her the stack of schedules he had already written and a master copy of all Slytherins in the house. "Check off the students for whom I've finished schedules."

Nodding, she conjured up a quill and started ticking.

They worked in silence, only occasionally glancing up when Carling cursed more loudly than usual or when the zooming of the brooms got louder and closer.

While they worked, Tonks appeared behind them and promptly spilled the mugs of hot chocolate she had brought for them.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir! And I got it all over the schedules too! I'm so sorry!"

Severus sighed, not surprised in the least. "You know the restoration charm, Ms. Tonks."

Taking the schedules from him, she quickly restored them to their dry state before handing the pile back to him and Emma.

Then she hollered over her shoulder for Leland to go get them more hot chocolate, since she didn't trust herself to not spill them again.

After a moment, she slid down beside Emma and took the schedules she was finished with and started putting them in alphabetical order.

Severus knew a spell that would have done that, but let her help. He was pretty sure he would need to use the spell anyway, and ten minutes later when Tonks dropped the whole pile with a dismayed cry, he swallowed a laugh and taught it to her.

XXXXXX

"Mr. Sommers, while I'm sure that position is an impressive feat of flexibility, you'll be able to block one spell and then unable to block anything else or launch an offensive of any sort. Stick to the duelling positions I demonstrated."

"Yes, sir."

Severus continued circling around the room, ducking spells and flailing bodies and watching everybody's wand movements and body movements.

He had realized a few years ago that teaching his students how to use spells was useless if he didn't teach them the context to use them in. While summoning charms and conjurations didn't have any offensive or defensive contexts, most other spells did. And knowing how to conjure up a water stream or do the jelly legs jinx while sitting on your rear in a classroom was fine and useful, it didn't teach anybody how to do it while standing up, moving and being attacked.

He didn't teach them any spells that weren't on the curriculum—an act which would land in back in Azkaban quicker than he could blink—but he did teach all of his students proper duelling stances, shielding and some basic rules about duelling.

"Mr. Webster, a three point shield is only useful when repelling which type of spells?"

Raymond paused, gasping for breath while he lay flat on his back, his ears twitching uncontrollably and Carling smirking at him from across the room. "Non dispersive spells, sir."

"Such as?"

"Stunners, most curses."

"Precisely. Hexes and Jinxes are weaker and thus, tend to disperse more easily. Which also means that if they are blocked by a three point shield, instead of a more encompassing but weaker shield, their effect will get through. Anticipation, Mr. Webster! Know your opponent! You know Ms. Dayton is not as well versed in curses as she is in jinxes and hexes, therefore, you should have anticipated a dispersive spell!"

"Yes, sir." Raymond pushed himself up, cast the counter-spell on himself and then got back into duelling position, glaring at Carling, who stuck her tongue out at him.

"And Ms. Dayton?" Severus called over.

"Yes, sir?"

"Did you recognize his three point shield?"

"Yes, sir! I was going to do a Babbling Curse, but that's non-dispersive and might not have got through."

"Very good. Three points to Slytherin. Continue."

XXXXXX

Tonks cheered and flung her arms up in the air and knocked Spencer over as Miranda swooped past the Puff Chaser, ducked a Bludger and passed the Quaffle to Nick, who hurled it through the hoops while the Puff Keeper was still staring at Miranda.

Glancing down, Tonks apologized and helped Spencer back up and went right back to cheering.

Behind her, their large Slytherin banners waved in the wind and the sea of green around her cheered and yelled at the goal.

Her green hair flew around her head as she watched Carling slam a Bludger at the Puff Chaser carrying the Quaffle, who was distracted enough to allow Nick to grab it from her and start streaking towards the other end again.

Tonks grabbed Spencer by the shoulders and shook him, screaming at him over the noise. "The Cups are ours this year, Spencer! Ours! I can practically taste them! Go Slytherin!"

XXXXXX

Derrick smirked as he saw the perfect score scrawled the history paper Professor Binns had just handed back to them.

Nick leaned across the aisle towards him. "How'd you do?"

Derrick smirked harder and tossed him the paper. "Perfect score."

Nick snorted. "It should be. You spent what? A week of tutorial doing it? I've never seen you read that many books."

"I didn't think I'd get through so many bloody books. But I did. And I got perfect. _Perfect_."

He spun in his seat and smirked at the Ravenclaw sitting behind him. "Did you hear that, Claw? Perfect. That's right. I got perfect. And what did you get?"

Before he could cover up his paper, Derrick had seen the scrawl on the top. "Aw, poor little Claw didn't get perfect. Nick, the little perfectionist didn't get perfect. But guess who did?"

Nick pretended to look curious. "Who? Surely you must be mistaken. It had to have been a Claw. They are perfect after all."

"Nope. It was me. Little old me."

Nick put on a mock horrified expression. "You? A slimy no good Slytherin? Get perfect on a paper? When a Claw didn't? What is the world coming to?" Nick shook his head, giving the glaring Claw a horrified look.

Then they both burst out laughing, Nick slapped Derrick on the back and they both sneered at the Ravenclaw, sing-songing "Pppp—eeee—rrrr—fffeee—ccccttt" under their breath the rest of class.

XXXXXX

"And who can demonstrate a proper Switching Spell for us? Yes, Ms. Treagle?"

"Whoo! You show 'em Treagle!" Derrick called over from his seat. Seeing Professor McGonagall's disapproving frown, he raised his hands. "Sorry, Professor. Sorry. Zipping it now."

Emma did it, performing the spell without a hitch, and ignoring the disappointed mutters of the Gryffindors around her.

"Very good, Ms. Treagle. Ten points to Slytherin."

Emma smirked and saw Derrick raising his arms in silent victory, giving the Gryffindors the finger when Professor McGongall wasn't looking.

XXXXXX

"And 'Aravandiara' can translate as what two things?"

Miranda tried to remember and failed, stomping her foot in disappointment. She had just been re-reading this with Raymond last night.

Turning in her seat, she stared at Raymond, who was frowning, trying to remember. She saw his face suddenly light up, but not before the Puff sitting beside her shot her hand up too.

They couldn't lose these points to the Puffs. The Claws were just seven points ahead of them!

What could she do? What would Professor Snape want her to do? Well, not do anything rash for one. And use her head for another. And not get caught, which meant not being obvious.

Stretching out her hand, she sent a small non-verbal spell at the inkwell sitting beside her. She wasn't good enough at wandless or non-verbal magic yet to do anything flashy like the Professor could do, but it was enough to topple the small pot. At the same time, she moved her foot out and nudged their desk, making it look like her nudge had upset the pot.

Just as she expected, ink poured across their desk, soaking her desk partner's parchment.

With a cry, the Hufflepuff girl pulled out her wand and started cleaning up the mess, sending furious looks at Miranda.

Miranda widened her eyes, pretended to look shocked and quickly started helping with the clean up, muttering apologies and complaining that the desks were just so darn rickety.

Moments later, the Professor called on Raymond, who answered the question perfectly.

"Good, Mr. Webster. Five points to Slytherin."

Miranda and Raymond exchanged triumphant grins. They were so close. So darn close.

XXXXXX

On his way back downstairs after returning an armload of library books, Severus paused, seeing Leland standing at the far end of the Entrance Hall, staring at the hour glasses.

Wandering over, Severus stopped beside him and glanced at the hour glasses.

There hadn't been much movement in them since he had checked yesterday, but his whole house now routinely passed by the glasses a few times a day to check on the points and obsessively try to count the gemstones in their glass to make sure the score was accurate.

Hufflepuff was still last with 207 points, Gryffindor was still third with 235, they were still second with 241 and Ravenclaw were still in the lead with 243 points.

"We're so close, sir. We were ahead of the Claws earlier this week, but then they got five more points and we lost two."

"We still have a few weeks. We got to the Quidditch finals and we still have the Quidditch scores to add onto our total after the game. Not to mention that exam review and finals always lead to loads of point winning opportunities."

"We're just so darn close, sir. The Gryffs are right on our tails and we're right on the Claws tails. I really, really want to win this year, sir."

"As do I, Mr. Dayton. As do I."

XXXXXX

Severus clutched the edge of his seat, nervous as hell. They had made it to the Quidditch finals and were once more facing off against the Gryffs.

Unlike their own team, Professor McGongall had slightly changed the Gryff line-up, switching one of her Chasers to be a Beater, bringing in a new Chaser and replacing her Seeker with Charlie Weasley.

And Weasley was good. Damn good. He was only a second year, the same age that Raymond had been when he had been made Seeker, which meant that he was lighter and faster than Raymond was now. Raymond had been spending the year training Spencer Creber to replace him as Seeker next year, but Spencer hadn't felt ready to replace him this year.

As a result, Carling and Severus had devised a strategy specifically for playing against the Gryffs during the finals.

They had to prevent the Gryffs from scoring and not allow Weasley anywhere near the Snitch until they had scored enough goals to still win if the Gryffs got the Snitch.

It took Professor McGongall half an hour until she narrowed her eyes, turned to Severus and started berating him for unsportsmanlike conduct and sneaky back-handed playing. Severus smirked at her and continued watching.

Their Chasers were on fire and their Beaters worked overtime, with Raymond helping zoom amongst the Gryff Chasers, confusing them and distracting them when they were trying to score or prevent the Slytherins from scoring.

Carling was very careful to keep her temper in check and keep from committing any fouls that would give the Gryffs any penalty shots.

Every time the Snitch appeared, Carling, Raymond and Nick abandoned their previous efforts and went to work distracting and irritating Weasley—heckling him, zooming around him in loops and pointing at random empty spots on the field—until the Snitch had disappeared.

Severus couldn't believe it, but their strategy worked. Heckling and distracting the Gryff Keeper, Chasers and Seeker allowed them to score 17 goals and limit the Gryffs to just one.

When the Snitch appeared again, his team knew that Weasley would try not to get it, since catching it now would guarantee Gryffindors loss. But they would lose anyway if Slytherin got the Snitch, so Raymond put on a burst of speed and raced towards the Snitch for the first time all game, ignoring Weasley and leaving him in the dust. Weasley quickly made his choice and zoomed after Raymond, easily overtaking him and grabbing the Snitch.

A smile lit up Weasley's face for one moment before he saw Raymond laughing at him from above, and Slytherin house erupted in cheers and laughter.

Severus leaned back in his chair, grinning and ignoring Minerva's complaints about underhanded playing and 'Slytherin tactics'.

His house spilled onto the pitch, his players landing and getting mobbed, all of them cheering and screaming, random body parts flailing in the air and broomsticks and players being tossed up.

They had just won the Quidditch Cup again.


	14. Chapter 14

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 14

'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.'

- Elanor Roosevelt

XXXXXX

Their celebrations for winning the Quidditch Cup again were short. As soon as everybody was back in the dungeons, Carling stood up on a chair, yelled at everybody to shut up and reminded everybody that when the Quidditch points were added to the house scores tomorrow, they would be facing a near three way tie with Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. The last chance they had to add points to that hour glass upstairs was to do well during their finals, which were a week away.

"We're not losing that Cup to the Claws or the Gryffs, you hear me? So everybody get your heads out of the clouds, shut your mouths and get your noses back into textbooks! Any question on any exam that we're supposed to know the answers for, you all better damn well put the right answer down! We're going to win this, people!"

Everybody let out a cheer for the Quidditch captain who had just helped win them one Cup and then they all shuffled into the Potions classroom.

Severus raised his eyebrows when everybody came in, dumped their books and sat down.

"I thought I mentioned that tutorial was cancelled for today."

Tonks raised her chin at him. "We're not done yet, sir. There's another Cup sitting upstairs that's going to be in our display case in three weeks."

Putting down the book he had been leafing through, Severus got up, telling everybody to get out their revision schedules.

XXXXXX

Severus dropped into his chair at the staff table, feeling utterly exhausted. He had finished handing back his house's exam results just that morning after days spent marking and hiding the results from over-eager Slytherins determined to look at them.

The last time he had seen the hour glasses, Gryffindor had been three points behind them and Ravenclaw had been one point ahead.

He had sent his exam results up to the headmaster, who had sat down with Deputy headmistress Minerva McGonagall do make the final decisions on who deserved to get points for their examination performance.

The fifth and seventh years wouldn't get their OWL or NEWT results back for weeks, so they were relying on the other years to have performed well enough to get them over the top.

Since the scores were so close this year, the headmaster had decided to keep the winner's identify a secret until the Feast. The hour glasses had become opaque and the scores displayed above the Cups had been wiped out. Some of his Slytherins had tried to count their gemstones, but there was too much error in counting small stones kept in an opaque glass that you couldn't touch. There were also no decorations in the Great Hall yet, since the colors would have obviously declared the winner.

In other words, Severus had no idea which one of the three houses had managed to grab first place.

Just like last year, he didn't allow himself to get too excited, since consoling his wildly excited Slytherins after losing—and potentially coming in third place—was going to be a difficult task.

Despite knowing that there was a chance that they would be in third place, his house was still nearly overcome with excitement.

They were sitting at their table below him, some vibrating from excitement and hardly any of them managing to eat.

Severus found himself stabbing a small piece of potato half a dozen times without having any desire to put it in his mouth.

They had worked for this moment for four long years and had landed just short of their goal each and every time.

Severus had decided weeks ago that his house had earned themselves a party before leaving the school, regardless if they won the House Cup or not.

He glanced at his students again, having forgotten about his meal completely.

Hardly any of them were speaking or eating, all of them fiddling with cutlery and shifting around, sending impatient looks up at the headmaster.

Tonks' hair was changing color every few minutes due to her own shifting emotions and she had walked into two doors, fallen down the dungeon staircase and tripped over half a dozen feet on her way into the Hall. Spencer had asked Severus for an anti-nausea potion earlier that morning since he felt like he was about to throw up. Carling had been snapping at everybody all day and Cameron had arrived earlier that morning, looking just as impatient, scared and excited as everybody else and now sat at the table, staring at spotless plate. Nick was staring up at the headmaster and not noticing that he was stabbing the table and not his plate with his fork and Derrick and Leland had pushed their plates away moments after sitting down.

Finally—finally—the headmaster finished eating and flicked his wand at the entire Hall, Vanishing everybody's food and plates, since he knew he was always among the very few taking long to eat during Leaving Feast.

Then he stood up, grinning broadly at the entire Hall.

"So, we have arrived at another end to a wonderful school year. I trust we've all done some interesting things, met some interesting folks and learned a few interesting things, despite all our best efforts to prevent it."

Severus sent a mild glare at Carling, who looked ready to get up and scream at the headmaster to hurry up. She rolled her eyes at him and jerked her chin at the headmaster, mouthing 'but he's taking forever!'. Severus gave her a hard look and she sat back, crossing her arms and going back to tapping her foot and glaring at the Claws sitting at the table beside her.

"I know this year the competition for the House Cup has been very fierce and the top three scores haven't been this close in over twenty years. We've all worked very hard and done a tremendous job, and no matter to which house the Cup goes to this year, I want you all to give yourselves a firm pat on the back for a job well—"

"Oh, get on with it already!" Carling yelled out, hammering a fist onto the table.

Severus sent her a glare and stood up to go and reprimand her, but the headmaster chuckled.

"Don't worry about it, Severus. I understand Ms. Dayton's impatience and excitement, and it is cruel to keep you all waiting, since I myself know who the winner is. So, to start things off, in last place with a very respectable 311 points is Hufflepuff house."

A small smattering of applause echoed throughout the hall, with the Puffs, the headmaster and Professor Sprout doing most of the applauding.

None of the other three houses or Professors bothered to pretend they were paying attention to the last place winners.

"In third place with 372 points, is Gryffindor House."

The Gryffs sent out a lack luster cheer and Minerva clapped and gave her house a pleased smile, but then everybody's attention came right back to the headmaster.

"Now, I said that the top three houses were close, and I wasn't exaggerating. The top two scores for the remaining houses were 374 and 376."

Two points. They had either lost or won by two points. Two little points.

Severus found he was holding his breath, along with probably the majority of his house. They had worked for this for four long years. Their entire house had put more effort into every single day in the past four years than they had in their entire lives or the history of their house.

"Now, before I announce the winner, I would like to take a moment to say that while I am very pleased that Ravenclaw is amongst the top two once more, I must say it is a very pleasant and wonderful thing to have Slytherin House once more in the rankings. Four years ago, Slytherin House didn't have a Quidditch team and didn't accumulate any points during the year. The house was known for having students who didn't put any effort in their education and treated each other, themselves and the rest of the school with great disrespect. Last year, Slytherin House took home the Quidditch Cup, a feat nearly unheard of from a house that had only made a team four short years ago, and they repeated their victory this year. I know many of us have had difficulties and personal issues with Slytherin house, but it is undeniable that the house has accomplished something great and its students have worked unbelievably hard in these past four years. Which is also why, it is with great pleasure, that for the first time in over twenty years, I am awarding the House Cup to none other than Slytherin House. Congratulations."

There was absolute silence in the Hall for a long moment after the headmaster was done speaking.

Severus had honestly thought the headmaster was saying all those things about his house to make their subsequent loss easier to bear. Which was why he had to run that last sentence through his head a few times.

Suddenly, he heard Carling hammering her fist on the table again and loudly exclaim: "Merlin's balls, we've won!"

"A very astute observation, Ms. Dayton." The headmaster smiled down at her, before flicking his wand and making silver and green decorations appear throughout the entire hall.

Severus was still sitting there, staring down at his house, who all stared back at him, when Professor Flitwick suddenly let out a squeak and leaned towards him from down the table.

"Congratulations, Professor Snape! A well deserved victory, if I might say so!"

And then Albus was grinning at him, pulling him to his feet and shaking one of his hands while pressing the House Cup into the other one.

Still feeling stunned, he turned back to his house, the Cup clutched in his hands.

That was when it finally hit them and the Hall erupted into pandemonium as his house went crazy.

Nick and Derrick leapt up, jumped on each other and promptly fell over the bench and onto the floor. Tonks grabbed Raymond and they alternated between shaking each other and hugging each other and screaming "I told you! I told you!" at each other, and Cameron was desperately trying to keep the tears off his face as Spencer jumped on him.

They were all screaming, cheering, half laughing and half crying, jumping on each other and shaking each other, climbing over the table to grab someone on the other side and nearly turning the entire table over.

Carling had grabbed her brother and they were both screaming something at each other that neither could hear, Tonks tried to hug Raymond and Miranda and Emma at the same time, before releasing them and throwing herself onto Cameron, who fell over.

Severus barely noticed Professor McGonagall shaking his hand and the sneers from Sprout, Sinistra, Quirrel and the other teachers who didn't seem at all thrilled with the news.

He alternated between staring at the Cup and his house and somehow, his feet brought him down to his house table, where he was mobbed by happy, screaming Slytherins, all of them screaming at him that they did it and they had won—as if Severus hadn't had a clue—and wanting to touch the Cup and hold it.

Somehow, he managed to herd his screaming, excited mob of Slytherins out of the Hall and down into the dungeons, where he summoned Gabby and told her to go ahead and bring out their preparations.

They spent the rest of the night celebrating like none of them had before. Green and silver decorations were everywhere and the elves brought down tray after tray of goodies and drinks to gorge themselves on. The House Cup had been placed in the display case next to the Quidditch Cup and everybody took turns running their fingers over both of them. Thankfully, strong charms had been applied to both Cups many, many years ago preventing grubby fingerprints or scratches from appearing on them.

Severus stayed for a bit, munching on chocolate frogs and grinning at whoever happened to look his way and yell out "We did it, Professor! We really did!". The radio had been turned up to deafening levels and happy, screaming Slytherins were jumping on the couches, shaking each other and pointing fingers in each other's faces yelling "I told you we'd do it! I told you, didn't I?".

Severus eventually left them to continue their celebrations, wandered into his office and slumped into his chair, stuffed full of sweets and feeling more content than he had in a long, long time.

His elf appeared on his desk and swung his legs back and forth. "So, young master did it."

"We all did it, Gorgon. You, me, our Slytherins, even Myrtle."

He heard a little squeal and glanced up to where Myrtle was lounging on his top shelf. He had filled his other shelves with jars of various potion ingredients that didn't fit in his stores but he kept the top shelf clear for Myrtle.

"I certainly did help! Never mind that I'm a Claw."

"You've never had any loyalty to Ravenclaw, Myrtle."

"So can I be an honorary Slytherin?"

Severus raised his eyebrows at her. "It takes a bit more than attending house meetings and planning house policy to be a Slytherin."

Myrtle sulked for a moment, but as soon as Gabby appeared and started squealing and clapping, she forgot all about it.

"Oh, Gabby not believing little snakes win! This so fabulous!"

Gorgon was still grinning and Severus smiled back, kicking his feet up on his desk.

"The last four years have been damn hard, but damn if they weren't worth this."

Gorgon nodded, smiling at the open door from where the sounds of the radio and happy chattering and cheering could be heard. "They happy now. And they proud of house, each other—"

"And themselves," Severus quietly added. "And that's what's most important."

"And is their head of house proud of himself?" Severus' head snapped up when he heard the headmaster's voice from his doorway.

About to stand up, Severus was waved back down by Albus, who conjured up a comfortable chair for himself and sat down, Fawkes on his shoulder.

Severus smiled. "He is, headmaster. I'm prouder of this than when I graduated."

"You should be. Graduating for you was mostly about finding the time to study. You had the motivation and the intelligence. This was about much more than just you."

Fawkes flew off Albus' shoulder and landed on Severus' nipping his ear as Severus scowled and half heartedly swiped at the bird. "_I hear congratulations are in order_."

"_Amazing.__ I had no idea birds could hear things_."

"_Very funny, Severus.__ Really. If you don't want my congratulations for doing an impossible job incredibly well, then just say so_."

"_Thanks, bird_."

"_You're welcome._"

"He's right, you know. These kids didn't have any respect or pride for anything, least of all themselves," Myrtle piped up, continuing the headmaster's earlier comment.

"Which is why so many of us went running when the Dark Lord spread his arms and why this house was in shambles," Severus quietly added.

"But now they have pride and respect for themselves and that most important," Gorgon put in.

Severus smiled. "Yes, it is."

The headmaster smiled and snapped his fingers, conjuring up four mugs of hot chocolate and passing them to himself, Severus, Gabby and Gorgon.

"A toast," he said, raising his mug and smiling at them. "To Slytherin House, once more a house deserving respect and a little bit of fear."

Severus grinned, knowing the headmaster didn't mean that last bit in a prejudicial way but knowing he was talking about Slytherins in general.

"To Slytherin House," he echoed, raising his own mug.

XXXXXX

Tonks leapt off the train before it had fully stopped moving, anxiously scanning the crowd for her mother. Since her father was a muggle, he couldn't come onto platform 9 ¾ to greet her, but her mother could.

"Nymphadora! Nymphadora!"

Tonks spun around, searching through the crowd until she saw her mother. Pushing through the throng, she reached her mother and threw herself into her arms.

"We won, mum! We won!"

Andromeda swung her daughter around, holding her close. "Which Cup, sweetheart?"

"Both of them, mum! Both of them! I knew we could do it and the Professor kept saying we could do it and we finally did it, mum!"

Andromeda smiled and squeezed her hard. "I'm so proud of you, darling! Really. Well done. I know how badly you wanted this."

"Oh, we all did, mum! We all went nuts when the Professor brought the Cup down to our table! And then we got to stay up all night and celebrate! Is dad waiting in the station? I can't wait to tell him!"

Releasing her mother and completely forgetting about her luggage, Tonks raced off, dodging through the crowd and yelling goodbye to her fellow Slytherins until she reached the wall and ran headfirst through it. As soon as she emerged on the other side, she saw her father leaning against a wall, anxiously waiting for his daughter to come bursting out of that solid looking brick wall.

"Dad! Dad!" Running up to him, she leapt into his arms and he laughed, swinging her around.

"My baby girl! I'm so happy to see you! We missed you, you little scoundrel!" Setting her down, he grinned at her. "So? Did you win?"

"Both of them, dad! Both of them! We beat the Claws by two points and the Gryffs by four and I have to tell you all about how we beat the Gryffs at Quidditch! They have this awesome new Seeker, you see and Raymond isn't as good as him, he's too big, see, but the Professor and Carling—"

"She's the captain, isn't she? The one who lives at the school year round with her brother?"

"Uh hu, Leland! Anyway, they came up with this really sneaky, really Slytherin plan to keep Weasley from getting his hands on that Snitch! Wait until I tell you! Professor McGonagall was so mad when we won! You see, we had to keep Weasley distracted until we got enough—"

Tonks continued to chatter as her mother showed up, dragging her now minimized suitcase. Her parents listened to her talk non-stop about the Quidditch finals and those final days before the House Cup winner was announced and the party they had had afterwards.

XXXXXX

Later that night, Ted came down to the kitchen and found his wife sitting at the table, holding a mug of tea. He dropped into the chair opposite her and squeezed her hand.

"What's wrong?"

She sighed softly. "I was wrong."

"About?"

"I judged Slytherin House too quickly. I looked at Cissy and Bella and their husbands and all the other Death Eaters who used to be Slytherins and I thought that that was what being a Slytherin turned you into. I was so upset and angry that our daughter had to be stuck in that house."

Ted glanced down at the table. "I don't think being in the house made them the way they are. Our Tonks isn't like that and Professor Snape doesn't seem like that either. And those friends she tells us about—Cameron, Leland, Emma, they all don't seem that bad either. They're competitive and stubborn but not evil or cruel."

She smiled and leaned back in her chair. Releasing the mug, she let out a small laugh.

"I never in a million years thought I would be proud of telling people that my daughter is a Slytherin."

"A lot of people aren't going to understand why."

She narrowed her eyes. "Then I'll let Nymphadora's actions speak for themselves. She's so proud of what they've accomplished in the last three years she's been there and I'm proud too."

Ted smiled. "Good." He leaned back too and glanced at the time on the microwave. "So, I think our House and Quidditch Cup winner deserves a little surprise tomorrow."

Andromeda smiled. "Maybe we'll get her a Slytherin surprise."

They exchanged quiet grins, feeling the stress of the past few years finally leaving them. Their daughter was a Slytherin, and that fact had stopped being something to be tolerated and was something to be proud of.


	15. Chapter 15

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 15

A/N: Before I leave you to read, I have to say that unfortunately, this story will end up being AU. There are too many little things in the story that are different from canon – my take on Bella, Snape's background, where he lives during the summer, his elf, his relationship with Fawkes, Tonks being in Slytherin and not Hufflepuff etc. etc.

In addition, there were too many things in DH I found either boring or confusing, which are going to be left out of this story. Asides from my little changes, I'm going to be staying as true to the plots of the first six books as I can, and will be changing major things that happened in the seventh (but keeping some things the same). For one thing, in my version, our potions master stays alive. If anybody doesn't like that, I'm sorry, but I've made too many canon mistakes as it is and I like where I intended on taking this story. It's too bad that Rowling and I didn't see eye to eye with certain things, but that's the way things will be. Hope you'll still continue to like the story.

'I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.'

- Louisa May Alcott

School Year, 1986 – 1987

Hogwarts School

"Professor Snape! Professor Snape!"

Severus glanced up and searched through the throng of students and teachers trying to find their way to their respective tables in the Hall for the source of the shout.

He spied Tonks jumping up and down by the door, pink hair flying everywhere. He had to blink to clear the dancing stars from his vision when he saw her hair, but decided to ignore it. Ever since she had learned how to manipulate her hair color and skin pigmentation she had been having outrageous fun with it, and the more she practiced, the better.

Winding his way back towards her, he raised an eyebrow. "Sorting is about to begin, Ms. Tonks."

"I know, Professor, but I wanted to show you something first. My parents were so proud about us winning the Cups, sir, that they gave me a present. A very Slytherin present."

Grinning, she shoved her hand into her robe pocket and pulled out a small snake.

A third year Ravenclaw walking by glanced at Tonks' hand and let out a scream and hurried away and Professor Sinistra stepped on a second year's foot taking a hasty step back.

Severus smirked. "They got you a snake?"

"Yes, sir."

"For someone who didn't like Slytherin house a few years ago, your mother has come around."

"Oh, yes, sir. She spent the whole summer telling everybody that we won the Cups. Do you mind taking a quick look at her, sir? I don't know a thing about snakes."

Severus held out a hand and the small snake slithered onto his palm. He lifted her up and examined the shininess of her scales and her responsiveness.

"She appears to be in perfect health, Ms. Tonks."

"Oh, I'm glad, sir. She was all by herself in a tiny box in the menagerie and the shop owner says she'd been there for months. Nobody wants snakes these days."

Remembering Nagini, Severus could sympathize. But there was an enormous difference between that arrogant, cruel beast and this tiny snake.

"What's her name, Ms. Tonks?"

"Lexina."

Handing her back to Tonks, he glanced around and realized Sorting was about to start.

"Take good care of her, Ms. Tonks. These small snakes are quite fragile and easy to injure. Have you thought about what to feed her?"

"No, sir."

"Go speak with Hagrid about it. Don't try to feed her anything from the potions stores or my office. Even the fresh ingredients might have come in contact with something else that might cause her harm."

Grinning, Tonks nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Now get over to that table and sit down before we're both yelled at by the headmaster. And keep her in your pocket, Ms. Tonks! I don't need Claws screaming hysterically in the middle of the school song. It'll only mean we have to start from the beginning."

Snorting with laughter, Tonks nodded and hurried over to the Slytherin table, gently putting Lexina into her pocket.

XXXXXX

Raymond was twitching on the bench beside him and Severus finally snapped at him to either stop it or he'd cast Petrificus Totalus on him.

Raymond took a deep breath and stopped but still stared anxiously at the pitch where Carling was putting Spencer Creber through some drills.

"I can't help it, sir. We don't have any other good Seeker candidates."

"Which is why Ms. Dayton will ensure Mr. Creber will be our Seeker and will do everything she can to get him ready."

Raymond nodded and glanced down at his Advanced Charms textbook and pretended to read while keeping his ears open to listen to Carling yelling at Spencer's lack of speed, brains and proper parentage.

Severus barely glanced up and continued marking the sixth year essays he hadn't finished looking over the previous night.

A shadow fell over him and he glanced up. "Ms. Tonks, you're in my light."

"Sorry, sir." She dropped down beside him on the bleacher and held out Lexina in her hands.

"She's been hissing something at me all day, sir. Can you tell what she's saying?"

Dropping his quill, he held out his hand and let the small snake slither onto his hand. Lifting her up until he was looking at her, he raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

He had to strain to hear the quiet hisses coming from the snake. He was much more accustomed to listening to Nagini, and since she was much larger, she was also much louder.

"She says she despises the pillow you have her sleeping on. She much prefers a solid surface."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, Ms. Tonks. Neither does she. Find some sort of box and put her in that."

"Okay," Tonks grinned, reaching over and taking her snake back and bounding back up the bleachers to where the other Slytherins were sitting.

"Hey, Emma? Do you still have that chocolate frog box from the last Hogsmeade weekend? Can I have it for Lexie? I'll have to charm it bigger, but it should do."

XXXXXX

"Alright, that will be all for tonight. In half an hour, I expect everybody to get ready for bed. Lights are out at…"

"Ten thirty," his departing Slytherins droned out in unison, gathering up their books and bags and shuffling out of the classroom towards the common room.

Severus got up and started putting away the odds and ends that were still lying around from tutorial.

He set erasers to start cleaning the boards and sent the now empty cauldrons near the front flying back to their places against the wall.

_"Hey, Sevvie?"_

_"Yes, Bella?"_

_"The rat's looking at me funny."_

_"Is it dead or alive?"_

_"I don't know. I poked it really hard with my nail and it didn't move."_

_"It's probably dead then."_

_"But it's still looking at me funny."_

_"Then turn it over or sit on it."_

_"Oh, wait! I have a better idea. There! I took its eyes out. But now they're still looking at me!"_

Severus sighed and threw a few paper money slips which had fluttered onto the floor back into the Monopoly box that some second years had been playing.

_"Just stuff them into a corner."_

_"I'll just eat them."_

_"Don't you dare! You'll make yourself sick and you know they won't come to help you! Bella! Don't you dare eat them!"_

She sighed in his head. _"Fine.__ I stepped on them. They went squish."_

_"Good girl."_

"Professor Snape?"

Severus glanced up from waving his hand at the stools and sending them flying onto the desks. Tonks was standing in the doorway, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Yes, Ms. Tonks?"

"Could I speak to you, sir?"

_"Sevvie, Sevvie, can I sing you my new song?"_

_"Bella, hold on a minute."_ He looked around the classroom and was satisfied that everything was cleaned up. "Let's go to my office, Ms. Tonks."

They walked out of the classroom and into his office. Dropping into his chair, he listened to Bella starting her new song.

_"Bella, not right now, alright?__ I have to speak to a student."_

_"But when can I sing you my song?"_

_"As soon as I sent the student off to bed."_

_"Alright.__ But hurry up."_

Turning off his bond, Severus focused his attention on Tonks, who had sat down in the chair across his desk and had put Lexina onto his desk to slither around and explore.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Tonks?"

Tonks was staring at the floor, a rather uncharacteristic shy gesture from the normally outgoing girl.

"Ms. Tonks, if you start a conversation looking and behaving unsure of yourself, whoever you are speaking to will assume you are an easy mark and will treat you as such."

Tonks lifted her head. "But I am unsure, sir."

"But is there a reason to advertise this fact? Always look in control, Ms. Tonks! Even when you have no idea what you are doing. Otherwise, you are immediately presenting yourself as an easy target to those who wish to exploit those who are unsure of themselves."

She sat up straighter and looked him right in the eye. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now I'll ask again, what can I do for you?"

"I want to be an Auror, sir."

For a moment, his thoughts took him back into the past and he remembered when he had heard these words last.

_"I—I want to be an Auror, Sev."_

For a moment, he was lying on his back on the front lawn in the snow, feeling the cold seeping through the back of his winter cloak, snow flakes falling onto his face as he stared at the night sky, Evans lying beside him and telling him about her dream job.

Then he quickly shook himself and forced himself back to the present. He stared at Tonks for a long moment. Then he finally asked the same question he had asked Evans all those years ago.

"Why?"

Tonks opened her mouth to no doubt blurt out the first thing that came to her mind, but Severus held up a hand. "Use your head before your mouth, Ms. Tonks."

She snapped her mouth shut again and thought it out before nodding. Severus waved a hand at her, telling her to get on with it if she knew what she was going to say.

"I want to do it for my family, sir."

"How so?"

"My mother never really had a family, sir. She had plenty of people around her who were related to her, but because they thought differently than her, they shunned her."

"I know all this, Ms. Tonks. What does the insane past of the Black family have to do with your career choices? Most of the Blacks who thought that way are now dead or in Azkaban." Or hiding in Canada, he thought and then quickly banished the thought. Even if Regulus had agreed with Mrs. Black's prejudiced views on blood purity, he hadn't meant to stumble into the mess that the Dark Lord had created. Thinking about Regulus put him in danger, and Severus had sworn to take his secret to the grave.

"I know that, sir. But there are other people out there who weren't allowed to be a part of a family because they thought differently."

"I still fail to see what this has to do with being an Auror, Ms. Tonks." He was pushing her. She knew he was. He wanted to hear her say what she really wanted to say. He knew she was hesitating because of his own history.

Tonks bit her lip and glanced down again, but at Severus' glare, she straightened up again and forced her discomfort from her face and posture. She looked him right in the eye and took up the gauntlet he had thrown at her feet.

"Because I think they were wrong."

"Who?"

"The Blacks. They supported You-Know-Who and his methods and his ideals and I think it was all wrong, sir."

"Why is that, Ms. Tonks?"

She clenched her jaw but then soldiered on. "Because I think You-Know-Who was nothing but a crazy sadist who just wanted to control everything and made a lot of good, innocent people suffer. And I don't like the thought of wizards like him snubbing my mother. Out of those two, my mother was right and the sane one."

"So you want to hunt those who hunted your own family?"

She looked hesitant and frowned slightly, knowing that this wasn't precisely right. Severus lifted an eyebrow as he studied her and she paused to put a few pieces together. Then she lifted her chin. "Yes, sir."

He stared at her for a long moment. He hadn't thought she'd get it. Apparently, there was more to Ms. Tonks than he had given her credit for.

Of course he couldn't openly say that he agreed with her opinion and wanted to see his former colleagues caught just as badly. What he could support was her seeking vengeance for her mother's disownment.

What he hadn't anticipated was having Tonks keep up with the verbal game they had just been playing. It impressed him.

"Being an Auror takes a lot more than just desire, Ms. Tonks."

"I know, sir."

"I doubt it. You'll have to take quite a few NEWT classes and get exceptional scores on your NEWTs. To do that, you'll need to do well on your OWLs."

She looked like she was about to look back down and bite her lip, but Severus raised an eyebrow at her and she straightened back up.

"I can do this, sir."

He narrowed his eyes at her, assessing her. "Maybe. This is your fourth year, Ms. Tonks. I will spend this year trying to impress upon you the effort that will be required of you to make it to the Auror program and through that. If I feel you have performed adequately at the end of this year, we will continue and I promise you, you will be in the Auror program once you graduate. However, if your efforts or attitude are lacking, I will forget this entire conversation and you will muddle through at whatever pace and rate you want and you will do whatever you can on your own."

"So you'll help me if I earn that help, sir?"

"Yes, Ms. Tonks. I will warn you now that I will not go easy on you. I know what is required of a good Auror, and believe me, that is vastly different than what the ministry's standards are. If you put in the right amount of effort and the correct attitude, I will help you."

For the first time that evening, Tonks grinned and nodded. "Alright, sir. I'll do my best this year and every year after this, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Ms. Tonks."

"I'm not, sir."

"You haven't seen the training regiment I'm going to write up for you yet."

Her chin lifted and her eyes sparked. "It doesn't matter what is says, sir. I will do this."

Leaning back in his chair, Severus smirked at her. "We'll see, Ms. Tonks."

She smirked right back. "Oh, we definitely will, sir."

XXXXXX

Scribbling some final notes down, Severus shuffled his papers and looked at the next name on the pile. Carling.

Waving his wand, he sent a stream of green fire racing out of his office and down the corridor to the common room, where most of his Slytherins were lounging around.

He had always preferred to do his career consultations on a Saturday, since it didn't interfere with tutorial or classes. The fifth years had many years ago groaned about having to sit in a line outside of his office all day Saturday, so Severus allowed them to lounge around in the common room like the majority of his house always did anyway and summoned them with the green fire which would spell out the name of the next person. He had at first tried giving them each appointment time slots, but found that some people only took two minutes and others over an hour, so he stuck to his own method.

Moments later, Carling came in and dropped into the chair before his desk, the same way she had sat in that same chair for many years now.

"Ms. Dayton, you and I both know why you are here. Do you want to start us off with any potential career options that you've been considering?"

Carling lifted her chin and gave him a hard look as if bracing for a fight. "I don't know. All I know is that I don't want to take a lot of NEWT classes."

Severus sighed. "Ms. Dayton, we've had this argument before. If you don't take enough NEWT classes, then many doors will already be closed to you before you've even graduated. If you had an inkling of what you'd like to do once you graduate—"

"I might have something."

Severus almost didn't want to ask what it was. "What might that be?"

"I like playing Quidditch, sir."

Severus stared at her for a long moment. At first he had thought she was just saying it to change topics before they started that familiar fight over her not wanting to stay in Astronomy with Sinistra long enough to write her OWL—an argument which they had had a hundred times since he had become head.

"You mean professionally?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ms. Dayton, if this is your way of deflecting the conversation, then let me tell you that no amount of hogwash will change the fact that you will stay in Astronomy and you will write that OWL and I don't care if you throw the exam and half the telescopes off the top of the tower once you're finished."

She rolled her eyes. "I know that, sir. I've accepted it. I'll stay in that stupid woman's class until June. I promise. But I meant what I said. Why couldn't I play Quidditch professionally?"

"There's more to it than just wanting it, Ms. Dayton. A scout would have to come out and watch you play a few games and watch some practices and then he or she would determine whether you're good enough to be allowed to try out for the team. Once you go through training camp and try out, then you might make the team."

"I've never seen one of these scout people, sir."

"There are too few people who are talented enough to play Quidditch professionally to warrant having scouts come out to every game."

"Could you call them, sir? To come watch me play?"

He sighed. "I could, Ms. Dayton. They might say no."

"Well then you let me on the floo and I'll tell them that I've been Quidditch captain for the past two years and I've been playing since my first year."

"Technically it wasn't your first year, Ms. Dayton. You were supposed to be in third year and were moved back down."

She gave him a wide grin. "The scout doesn't have to know that, does he? It sounds more impressive if you say I've been Beater since my first year."

"Ms. Dayton, even if the scout comes out, there is an enormous chance he'll say no."

"He won't say no to me, sir."

"Ms. Dayton—"

"You're always telling us that if we really want something and we think we deserve it, then we should do everything we can to get it. Isn't that what Slytherins do, sir? I'm not going to cry in a corner if he's about to say no, sir! He'll end up saying yes, you just watch."

"Ms. Dayton, using physical violence won't get the scout to change his mind. It'll only result in him pressing charges against you."

Carling scoffed. "Physical violence is a Gryff's way of doing things, sir."

Severus stared at her. He knew that arguing with her about this was useless. He also knew that he would be there when the scout watched and he would be present when the scout spoke to her.

"Very well, Ms. Dayton. I'll speak to the headmaster and he'll send an owl requesting a scout from the ministry's games department. In the mean time, you'll redo that atrocious astronomy paper you scrawled out in tutorial yesterday and that Babbling Potion we're making in class tomorrow had better be done perfectly."

She grinned and leapt up, already half way out the door. "Yes, sir!"

"That scout will only be a floo call away, Ms. Dayton! If Professor Sinistra complains about you throwing anything—a fit or furniture—up in the tower, I'll cancel the scout's appointment!"

He heard her laughing down the corridor. "Yes, sir! But you won't have to! That moronic woman will be getting an Outstanding paper tomorrow full of Jupiters and moons, you just watch!"

XXXXXX

Lowering himself in his usual seat, Severus accepted the mug of hot chocolate the headmaster handed him.

"Thank you, sir."

"Not at all, Severus." Leaning back in his own chair, the headmaster sipped his own hot chocolate. "So, I got a floo call from Ludo Bagman today. He says all of his scouts are over in Eastern Europe and that they don't usually look at fifth years. He says I should call him next year and he'll send someone to watch Ms. Dayton play in her seventh year. I told him to keep a slot open for us."

"Thank you, sir. I'll tell Ms. Dayton. I'll look up some drills from training camps and put her through a few of those during the summer."

"How did Mr. Dayton's consultation go?"

Severus struggled to hide a smile. "He wants to go to Muggle college."

The headmaster raised an eyebrow and looked pleased. "Really?"

"You know how he is with a quill or charcoal. Draws anything everywhere. He always has. Anyway, he doesn't want to take a huge load of NEWT courses since he doesn't see the use for some of them—"

"He's right. They're not for everybody, Severus."

"Granted, taking advanced Herbology, Astronomy or Divinations isn't important, but I'll be damned if I let one of my Slytherins graduate without them having at least done sixth year Charms, Potions, Transfigurations and Defense."

"I see your point, dear. Anyway, what did Leland decide?"

"He's going to take those four NEWT classes and then he'll apply at a muggle art college. He wants to be an artist. Drawing wizard comics or illustrating books and such things. I told him he'd spend years starving in a little hole if he tries hobbling from shop to shop with just a portfolio of drawings. Everybody who can draw something does that. He'll have to have something to make himself stand out."

"And if he gets a certificate for having taken art classes in college…"

"That'll set him apart. It's too damn bad that we don't have art class as part of our curriculum here, but we have too many courses anyway."

"Did you tell him he will have to abide by very strict guidelines when he is attending?"

"We discussed it. Mr. Dayton has never been one to use his wand for many things. He prefers doing things with his own hands. Merlin knows why. Anyway, he says it won't be a problem living as a muggle while he's at the school. I told him I would speak to you about getting application forms and brochures from different schools. I haven't the faintest idea where to go to get them."

The headmaster smiled. "Leave that to me. Mr. Dayton wouldn't be the first to want to go to a muggle institution after finishing here. We always send the small group of interested individuals for a meeting at the ministry where the people who deal with such things meet once a year. I'll let you know when and where it will be when Mr. Dayton is in his seventh year. And if he is still interested."

"And if he passes his core NEWT courses. I don't care if he has to go without sleep for the next two years."

XXXXXX

"Final Quidditch scores are up."

Severus glanced up from the papers he was marking and leaned back in his chair, smirking up at Professor McGongall who had just come into the staff room.

"And?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Go see for yourself."

He smirked harder. "I don't have to. You just told me that either Gryffindor isn't in the finals or that Slytherin is, or both."

She narrowed her eyes at him and sat down across from him, moving some of his papers over to make room for her own.

"You're in. I'm not."

"That's very sad, Professor. My condolences."

She glared. "You could at least try to be sincere about it."

Finishing one last scrawl on the paper he was marking, he pushed it aside and snorted at the glare Minerva was sending his way.

"I could try, but I'm afraid I would fail terribly. Tell me, is your display case getting a layer of dust in it?"

She threw a quill at him that he dodged with a smirk.

XXXXXX

After having called out that they were done for the day, Severus started cleaning up the classroom, cleaning the boards and sending stray assignments flying down the corridor into the common room to chase after their owners.

He was about to put the stools up when he saw Tonks sitting in the far corner, still bent over her Herbology textbook.

"Ms. Tonks, it's nine thirty already. We can call it a night."

She didn't even glance up but shook her head. "Not yet, sir. I can't stuff this junk into my head. The test is tomorrow, you know that! I have to know this stuff but I can't get it to stick."

Thinking it over, Severus went back up to the board and put up an enormous chart, putting each one of the plants that Tonks would be examined on in the column headers and specific characteristics she had to know for each in the rows.

"Ms. Tonks, get up here and fill it out."

"Now, sir? I told you, nothing's sticking!"

"You're not a demented baboon, Ms. Tonks. You've been studying that material all night. Surely something stuck. Get up there and fill in as much of the chart as you can. Then we'll fill in the blanks, then I'll reorder the rows and columns and we'll do it again. And again and again until you know it."

Nodding, Tonks put down her textbook and marched up to the front, grabbing the chalk and frowning at the board, while Severus sat back on a stool behind a desk, leaning it back on its back legs.

It was going to be a long night.

XXXXXX

"And once again, I am very pleased to announce that the winner of this year's House Cup is none other, than our Quidditch Cup winner—Slytherin House. Congratulations!"

Severus smiled at the explosion of cheering that came up from his house as Tonks jumped up and down and Nick grabbed Raymond in a hug and Emma let out a scream.

"Looks like that display case of your will be gathering a bit more dust, Professor," he said to a glaring Professor McGonagall.

"Oh, be quiet, Mr. Snape! It was a fluke, that's all. A fluke. You watch, next year, we'll take both those Cups back to where they belong."

"They already are where they belong, Professor McGonagall," he said with a smirk and pushed himself up to accept the Cup and go celebrate with his house.


	16. Chapter 16

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 16

'Not all that glitters is gold.'

- _Andromeda_, 'The Shards of Rimni'

Summer, 1987

Malfoy Manor

Taking a tiny sip of his firewhisky—he still couldn't stand the taste of the stuff—he nodded to whatever Lucius was saying and shifted slightly to keep his foot from falling asleep.

It had been a relief to have a perfect excuse not to see Lucius for three years. Lucius himself had spent the past few years dodging accusations and ministry inquiries and didn't try to contact Severus. But when his probation had ended, Severus had discussed the matter with Salazar and the headmaster. They had all agreed that they had no idea what the future held and what possible use his acquaintance with Lucius Malfoy might hold.

So, being a good Slytherin, he regularly came over for drinks and long talks about ministry incompetence and the shame of having to temporarily abandon their cause.

"—and now all of our work will vanish completely."

Severus sighed in what he hoped sounded like sympathy. "Master will return eventually, Lucius. Then we can start again."

Lucius stared into his nearly empty glass for a long moment before looking back up.

"But let us stop dwelling on past events. How is our house?"

Swallowing the urge to retort that Slytherin house wasn't 'their' house, Severus smiled. "We won both the Cups again last year, as I'm sure you've heard."

"Yes, yes. The news filtered around the ministry when I was visiting with the minister a few days ago. Well done, Severus. I always knew we would show the world the greatness that is Slytherin house and force them to accept our obvious superiority to the other three houses." Lucius snapped his finger and Dobby appeared by his elbow. Without having to be told, he poured more firewhisky for Lucius and then turned to Severus who pretended to cough and muttered "No," underneath it in Elfish. Dobby understood and made a big show of pouring a tiny amount into his glass before disapparating again.

Lucius drained half the glass and then set it down. "So, I trust you are intending on repeating our victory next year?"

"Of course." Severus nodded and then sighed softly as if something bad had suddenly occurred to him.

Lucius frowned. "What is it?"

Severus waved a dismissive hand. "It's nothing. Just…no, nothing. Never mind."

"What is it?"

One more should whet his curiosity enough. "Never mind, Lucius."

That did it.

Lucius leaned forward, his curiosity having overridden his disdain at discussing anything that didn't directly have anything to do with him. "Tell me, Severus."

"It's just, so many of my—our—Slytherins have expressed their dissatisfaction with the state of the dorms."

"What state?"

"Let's just say that the dorms have been neglected for a long while. There is only so much damage cleaning charms can undo."

"Do you believe the state of the dorms has anything to do with how they perform in class?" Lucius sounded doubtful. Time to pull out the big wands.

"Oh, absolutely, Lucius," he managed to sound shocked that Lucius hadn't known. "A person's environment greatly influences their learning capabilities."

Lucius was nodding to himself, staring at Severus carefully. "Why haven't any of the parents come forward with donations? Why hasn't Dumbledore?"

Severus waved another hand, looking annoyed. "Dumbledore couldn't care less about Slytherins, you know that. As for the other parents, most of them are too ashamed to admit their children are in Slytherin. They aren't about to spring forward with donations to the house." Not completely true anymore, but not many of those parents had copious amounts of cash to spare, unlike Lucius.

"Of course. It's very unfortunate. It's also very unfortunate that I can't think of anything that would help."

Severus stared into his glass. "That is a shame," he said softly. "All I could think of during the Award ceremony was how proud our master would be of our young Slytherins. They are his future, after all."

Lucius frowned at him briefly but then quickly replaced the frown with a serious nod.

"Of course. Well, I see no alternative."

Severus frowned, pretending to be confused. "I don't understand."

"I will give you the money you need to fix up the dorms, Severus."

"Lucius, I couldn't possibly accept—"

"Of course you will accept it! You must! Like you said, our master would expect us to nurture and care for his future servants to the best of our abilities."

Severus smiled. "If you're certain, Lucius…"

"Of course I'm certain! I won't hear another word about it. Just come by tomorrow and I will leave the money with Narcissa."

"Slytherin house and our master will be grateful to you, Lucius."

Lucius smiled back. "I am counting on it, Severus."

Severus smiled. "Oh, nobody will forget the things you've done, Lucius. I can guarantee it."

XXXXXX

The very next morning Severus apparated back to the manor and let himself in, the wards having been spelled to recognize him many years ago.

_"I still can't believe he's giving us so much money."_

_"It's to nurture future Death Eaters, bird. We must do everything possible to care for the next generation. You know that."_

_"How you can sound sarcastic when you're speaking to someone in your head is beyond me. What happens when Lucius finds out you're going to use the money to buy potion ingredients, buy new telescopes and fix up the owlery and half the bathrooms in the castle?"_

_"One of those bathrooms is in the Slytherin dormitories."_

_"Somehow I don't think Lucius would be so happy about that."_

_"Which is why we won't tell him. He's not coming near the school any time soon anyway. Besides, when would he ever to go the owlery or Myrtle's bathroom, never mind realize when they were last renovated? He hasn't seen the Slytherin dormitories since he went there and we've fixed them up enough to pass any inspection."_

_"I still don't like taking money from him."_

_"It's not as if we have to pay him back. Besides, Lucius owes me."_

Fawkes didn't try to refute that.

Severus wandered through the empty front hall, not seeing anybody. Poking his head into the sitting room, he discovered that was empty too.

He was about to call out for Dobby when he heard a crash coming from upstairs and a loud pitched scream.

Alarmed, Severus raced up the stairs, pulling his wand out along the way.

He slowed when he reached a half open door, hearing hysterical sobbing and the soft murmurs of Narcissa coming from behind it.

Pushing the door open a bit more, he took in the scene before him.

Narcissa was backed against the far wall, hands out and telling somebody else to please calm down and that he couldn't just wear whatever he wanted.

In the middle of the room sitting on a pile of expensive robes was a seven year old Draco. He was the spitting image of Lucius and Severus wondered if he had more of his father's or his mother's personality. He couldn't decide which thought was worse.

Draco was sucking in huge gulps of air, his face screwed up as if he'd been crying, but his face was completely dry.

"But I want to so I will!" he screamed at his mother, who looked utterly helpless.

"But Draco, dearest, please listen for just a moment. Your dress robes were very expensive and your father wouldn't like you wearing—"

"But I want to wear them now!" Draco screamed back and then started wailing again, screaming and kicking at the floor, sobbing hysterically and putting on such a performance that Severus was seriously impressed.

Narcissa shrank back even more. Severus could see when she was about to crack a moment before she did.

"Alright, fine, darling. You can wear them."

Instantly, Draco stopped his tantrum, happily pulling on one of the robes lying on the floor beneath him. Then he looked up.

"Now I want to have tea. With lots of sugar and chocolate biscuits."

"Draco, you haven't had your lunch ye—"

Draco's face screwed up again and he let out a scream. "I said I want to have tea! Elf! Get me tea! Elf!"

Dobby apparated into the room. "Get me tea at once, you filthy cretin! And biscuits! The chocolate biscuits!"

Narcissa straightened up slightly. "Elf, you will do no such thing."

Dobby froze, torn between which of his two masters to obey. Elf rules dictated that he follow the elder's orders, so after a moment, he turned to Narcissa and bowed. Draco must have noticed that he was about to lose, so he got up, scrambled over to Dobby and kicked him hard.

"I said get me my tea! Now!"

"Draco, I told it to—"

"Shut up! You are to do what I tell you! All of you!"

Having seen enough to last a lifetime, Severus cleared his throat delicately.

Narcissa's eyes flickered over to Severus and she looked ready to fall over with relief.

"Severus! Oh, thank Merlin you're here!"

Severus forced his eyes off the still seething form of Draco and looked at Narcissa. Dobby looked ready to kiss him for having appeared and quickly disapparated.

"Lucius said he had some money for me?"

She stared at him blankly before she remembered. "Oh, yes. Yes. That's downstairs. I'll have one of the elves fetch it for you. In fact, no, no, I'll fetch it for you."

Grabbing his arm, she hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She hurried down the stairs ahead of him.

"Is everything alright with Draco?"

"With Draco? Oh, yes. Everything's fine," she shot him an utterly unconvincing smile over her shoulder and hurried to a table by the door. Taking a small porcelain bowl from it, she pulled out her wand and re-transfigured it until a large bag of money was in her hands. Handing it to Severus, she was about to release it, but then tightened her grip and stared at him with wide eyes.

Severus frowned and gently tugged on the bag, only to have her squeeze it harder.

"What on earth is wrong with you?" He demanded.

She kept staring at him with huge eyes. "I can't do this anymore," she whispered. She looked half deranged.

"Do what?" he asked cautiously, not really wanting to know the answer.

"He is going to kill me."

"Lucius? Why?"

"No, not Lucius! Draco!"

"What?" He realized he was whispering too.

"I can't deal with it anymore! The elves never know who to obey and he doesn't listen to me."

Severus wanted to say that that was hardly a surprise. Treating a child like he or she was the ruler of their kingdom would make them act like it. "What about Lucius?"

Narcissa's eyes quickly dropped. "Draco doesn't behave like this when Lucius is around."

"Which isn't often, I gather."

"No. He's always off meeting people. I'm supposed to stay home and raise Draco." The quiet anger in her voice conveyed what she thought of this arrangement.

"Why do you allow his attitude to continue like this?"

Narcissa's eyes widened. "I don't know what to do! I refuse to hit my own child, Severus."

"Who said that physical punishment is the only way to deal with him?"

Narcissa looked at the floor. "Lucius."

A thrill of anger raced down his spine. "Lucius beats him?"

"He claims it's the only way to keep Draco in line. He says he has to learn now what his place in the world is."

"And that place is to disrespect you and to fear and obey Lucius?"

"I don't know, Severus! I don't know what goes on in Lucius' head! I don't know a thing about raising a child! All my own mother ever said was that I had to have a son to give my husband an heir."

"Nobody ever bothered to point out that this process would be a seventeen year commitment?"

"She said elves would do it! But the elves are scared of him or they get confused about whom to obey!"

Severus stared at her. "If you're asking me to go upstairs and smack him around, there is no way in hell I—"

Her eyes widened. "No! No, no, no. I don't want you or anybody to hurt my boy! It's awful enough what Lucius does."

Severus' eyes narrowed. "What exactly does Lucius do?"

Her eyes dropped and she refused to meet his gaze. "He says it's the only way to teach him. He says it's the way things are supposed to be."

"Answer the damn question, Narcissa or I'm leaving."

She looked up, naked fear in her eyes. "No! No, please don't."

"Then answer the question."

"Lucius uses the Vindico curse a lot. He's only used the Cruciatus curse twice."

Severus clenched his jaw. He knew the Vindico curse. It was a milder form of the Cruciatus curse. It caused less physical damage on a body but was just as painful. Death Eaters had favored it when torturing children since they lasted longer.

Remembering some of Lucius' other perversions, Severus suddenly got a horrible thought.

"Does he do anything else to him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Does he go to him at night?"

"What?" She looked puzzled. "Not that I know of, Severus. Why are you—"

"Have you ever seen him touching Draco inappropriately?"

"Severus why are you asking me—"

"Answer the question, damn it!"

"No! No, I haven't."

"Good."

"Why?"

Severus wanted to shake her. "Don't play the ignorant ninny with me, Narcissa! You and I both know what Lucius used to get up to when the Dark Lord allowed him to play."

Going pale and looking sick, she dropped her gaze to the floor. "I didn't even think about it."

"You should. Especially now. Lucius liked girls younger but the boys were always around what age Draco is now."

Her eyes widened and she stared at him fearfully. "How would I know if he's done anything?"

"You wouldn't most likely. Lucius isn't stupid. Has Draco been behaving drastically differently in past months?"

"No. Not that I know of. Lucius has been gone a lot."

"Good. I'll go do some research and see if I can find some wards to put up around Draco's room that would protect him and alert you."

"What if Lucius detects them?"

"He won't. Which is why we can't just use any wards. I'll have to do some research. Off the top of my head I can think of a Confundus type ward. It confuses whoever passes through it. I could adjust it to make Lucius not only confused but very sleepy whenever he passes through it. It wouldn't occur to him that somebody is trying to protect Draco, but it would make him want to go back to his own bed."

Narcissa nodded and bit her lip. They were silent for a moment and Severus turned to the door. "On that note, I should get back to Hogwarts and start reading."

He was stopped by Narcissa tugging on his arm. "Take him with you."

He frowned down at her. "What?"

"Take Draco with you. Please."

"Narcissa, I can't take a seven year boy back to the castle with me."

"It's summer! There's hardly anybody in the castle and you aren't teaching."

"That's not the point."

"Severus, please! I don't want to see Lucius hurt him and I know I'm hurting him too, probably worse but in a different way. But I don't know what to do and what to change. Lucius probably wouldn't let me either. But I know I'm harming my son. I know I am! I might be a terrible parent, but I'm not stupid."

"Lucius would have a fit."

"Lucius wouldn't have anything negative to say about it if we both explain that you are taking Draco to the school to start teaching him Slytherin values and important skills he would need later to serve the Dark Lord."

Severus frowned at her. Once more the frail, scared Narcissa Malfoy had disappeared and been replaced by cunning, practical Narcissa Black.

"Besides, Lucius is gone so much that he'll be glad to hear that a Slytherin he respects is helping raise his son."

Severus smiled. "Lucius doesn't respect me. He fears me because of my rank in the Dark Lord's hierarchy."

She smiled back, looking smug. "Which will go to both our advantages."

"Narcissa, I'm still not sure. What the hell will I do with him?"

"Whatever you come up with, you won't damage him any worse than Lucius and I already have. Please, Severus."

He narrowed his eyes at her before caving, like he knew she knew he would. "Fine. Get the elves to pack some of his things together. I'll take him for a few days, then I'll floo you. If things are going terribly, I'm bringing him right back."

"But they won't. And you can keep him for a few weeks. In fact, as long as you want."

He narrowed his eyes at her even more. "Go get him and his things before I change my mind."

She grinned. "Thank you, Severus."

"Don't thank me yet. I have no idea what to do with a little brat."

"You already saved him once. I have no doubt you'll figure out a way to do it again."

XXXXXX

The first few days with Draco were a disaster. Draco had immediately picked one of the dorm rooms for himself and instructed the elves to get rid of all other beds since it was his. Then he'd dumped all his belongings onto the floor and told the elves to put them away.

Carling and Leland were at first excited to have somebody else to hang out with, but Draco's attitude quickly got on their nerves.

Sensing a weak target with Leland, Draco immediately went about ordering him to hand over his art supplies and destroying Leland's room and belongings when Leland refused. Then Carling got irritated and the two of them ended up throwing things at each other and Carling pulled out her wand before Severus showed up and separated them.

He had firmly told Draco that Leland's things were his own and he couldn't have them. That started another one of Draco's tantrums. A tantrum that was instantly cut short when Severus pulled out his wand. His face paling, the seven year old scrambled back from him, crying out that he'd give Leland back his things and that he was sorry.

Severus knew what Draco was afraid of. Not lowering his wand, he explained that he didn't use Lucius' punishment methods, but he wouldn't stand to have Draco behaving like a spoiled brat and ruining other people's summer.

Then he levitated him up and flew him into the potions classroom, where he glued his rear onto one of the chairs.

Then he put up an enormous clock near the front of the class. "You're seven years old, Draco and not in school yet, so the usual detention rule won't apply to you. Instead, you'll serve one minute per year in your age. So, seven minutes."

He mentally reminded himself to go back upstairs and thank the headmaster for the tips he had given him about dealing with Draco.

Draco immediately tried to get up, and when he realized he was stuck, he started screaming with outrage. Severus considered putting a silencing charm on him, but then decided that he didn't want to force the child to be quiet as well as keep still.

So he summoned his elf and they started working on next year's lesson plans and temporary revision schedules for his Slytherins while Draco sat.

After realizing he was being ignored, Draco finally shut his mouth and instead, leaned back, glaring daggers at Severus.

When the seven minutes were up, Severus allowed him up and Draco stormed off to his room and slammed the door, sulking for the next few hours.

Severus sent Gabby to get Draco when it was time for dinner, but she came back very quickly, saying she had had two shoes and a lamp thrown at her before she had gotten the question out of her mouth.

So Draco ended up missing dinner that night and throwing another tantrum later when he was hungry. Severus gave him detention again and afterwards, had the elves bring down some leftovers he had asked them to keep. Draco started complaining that he didn't eat leftovers and wanted whatever he wanted, but Severus told him very plainly that everybody at the school ate what the elves put in front of them or nothing.

Draco continued testing Severus, trying to figure out where the boundaries lay between them. Severus wanted to laugh at him a few times, recognizing how he had done the exact same thing with the headmaster.

Draco threw tantrums, got into fights with Carling, picked on Leland and destroyed his room and the common room a dozen times, but eventually, he got tired of having to sit in detention three or more times a day and being confined to the dungeons.

He finally asked Severus what it would take for him to be allowed to roam around the rest of the school with the Dayton twins, and Severus calmly explained that he would allow Draco to go about the school when he started treating it and everybody in it with the respect they deserved. Draco had retorted back that he wasn't going to be respecting anybody who didn't deserve it and Severus retorted back that he wasn't asking him to.

After about a week, Draco's behaviour had calmed significantly. He wandered around the school with Severus and the Dayton twins, drawing on a Vanishing wall Severus made in the common room and learning how to race down the corridor on a beginner's broom—complete with child safety charms—that Narcissa bought for him.

He was still rude and demeaning to the elves and he refused to clean his room on his own, but the three weeks he spent at school with Severus and the twins turned out to be quite pleasant.

After a few days, Draco had started saying that he missed his mother, and Severus let him floo Narcissa whenever he wanted, telling her everything he had done that day, and Narcissa even came by the school a few times to spend time with her son.

He still treated Narcissa with the same disrespect that he treated the elves, but after Severus interrupted him to give him detention for it, Draco started watching what he said around his mother, at least when Severus was within ear shot.

Severus wasn't sure what Draco was behaving like when he went back home, but when Narcissa sent him back to Hogwarts for the last two weeks of August, it only took a day for Draco to remember how Severus expected him to behave while living with him.


	17. Chapter 17

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 17

A/N: Thank you for the very kind reviews everybody! I respond to every review I get, but to those who don't leave me an email addy or sign in, know that I appreciate your reviews very much too, even if I can't respond to you personally.

Here are two more chapters, covering two more school years. It's time for some of our Slytherins to leave us and venture out into the big world while others still have some more growing up to do. And yes, we are coming closer and closer to a certain Gryff starting school!

'Be not afraid of growing slowly, Be afraid only of standing still.'

- Chinese Proverb

School Year, 1987 – 1988

Hogwarts School

Having finished his beginning of the year speech, Severus walked out of the common room towards his office. He still had to send Ruddy to Xavier and inquire about the second year ingredients he was missing for next week. Not to mention that he had to have a meeting with Carling as soon as possible. Gabby had informed him that Professor McGonagall intended to make Charlie Weasley team captain this year, a prospect which meant they would have to get sneakier than usual.

He sighed. As if Charlie Weasley wasn't a thorn in his side already, Bill Weasley had achieved good enough OWLs to be allowed in his NEWT potions class, and another Weasley—Percy—had been sorted into Gryffindor an hour ago. The flow of red heads never seemed to stop.

"Professor Snape?"

He paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Yes, Ms. Tonks?"

Tonks hurried up to him and tripped over her own shoes. Severus caught her with a spell before she hit the ground and straightened her back up. Lexina was draped around her neck and had managed to cling on when her owner attempted to do a nose dive into the floor.

"Oh, sorry about that, sir."

"What is it, Ms. Tonks?"

"I wanted to see if you thought I did well enough last year, sir."

Severus stared at her carefully. "Do you think you are capable of handling three more years the same way? The difficulty of the curriculum will increase and you must get an Outstanding or an Excellent in the subjects that you will wish to do a NEWT in."

"Which will be most of them, right sir?"

"Correct."

She raised her chin and looked him straight in the eye. "I'm ready, sir."

"I will warn you, Ms. Tonks that I will not only expect you to master the Hogwarts curriculum, but the skills I will teach you on my own."

She grinned. "Yes, sir. I'm looking forward to it."

"Any complaining, crying or whining and we're through."

"Understood, sir."

XXXXXX

"Narcissa, I am in the middle of term! I can't have Draco running around loose!"

"Then just confine him to the dungeons. Please! Lucius is insisting I go to this thing in France with him for a week and we can't take Draco. I'm afraid the house will be a disaster and the elves will have killed themselves by the time we get back."

Severus sighed. "Fine. Send him over."

Then he called up his elf. "Yes, young master?"

"Go to the dormitories and put an extra bed in the boy's first year dorm. Draco will be staying there for a week."

XXXXXX

"There!"

Severus sighed. "Ms. Tonks, that looks more like a dog's muzzle than a duck's beak."

Tonks sighed too and leaned closer to the mirror that she was standing infront of and then at the picture of a duck that sat beside it.

"Start again."

She sighed and concentrated, morphing her face to have the nose and mouth she usually went with. Then she looked at the picture again.

"What are the first characteristics you must attain?"

Tonks thought. The first characteristic was always the biggest shape change. "I need to make my nose and mouth meld together into a beak."

"No, Ms. Tonks! Think logically! Melding your nose and mouth together has always given you a muzzle."

Thinking it over, she decided to elongate her nose and mouth first and then meld them. Concentrating, she stared into the mirror until her nose and mouth lengthened until her chin had all but disappeared.

"Good. Now meld them."

Frowning, she thought about her nose and mouth melding, and they did. It really did look like a beak. Getting excited, she nearly opened her mouth to yell out in triumph, but Severus interrupted her.

"Don't lose focus, Ms. Tonks! You'll mess up the transformation! Now, concentrate. What detail are you missing? Don't tell me, just think it."

The placement of nostrils. Thinking at them, she moved them backwards to where the picture said they should lie. Then she changed the color of her lower face, making it yellow.

She glanced at the mirror and really thought she was finished, until Severus pointed out that ducks had different teeth from humans. She carefully opened her 'beak' and stared at her teeth, gently altering their shape one by one.

Then she spun around and stared at Severus, who examined the beak from all angles before nodding with satisfaction.

"Well done, Ms. Tonks. Return to your normal shape."

Closing her eyes, she quickly reverted to her usual face before letting out a whoop.

"I did it, sir! That really looked like a beak, didn't it?"

"Ms. Tonks, you're not learning this to use as a party trick. Yes, being able to turn your face into that of a duck's is no doubt amusing, but will serve you no purpose when you are trying to chase after dark wizards. Now, we've had enough for today. Go get your books and head over to the classroom. Tutorial is about to start, and if I'm not mistaken you have a Charms paper to finish and the Arithmancy practice problems to do."

"Yes, sir. I'll go get my things."

Turning, she raced out of his office and down the corridor, letting out a triumphant whoop as she went.

XXXXXX

"But why not?"

"Draco, whining about it will get you nothing but detention."

Severus glanced over at him from where he was adjusting Emma Treagle's wand movement. Draco had been sitting quietly, reading Severus' old book on jinxes, but then had looked up to watch the other students practicing their duelling and wand work. Out of nowhere, he had asked Severus to buy him a wand.

Draco opened his mouth to no doubt start yelling, but then thought better of it. He snapped his mouth shut, swallowed a few times and then started again, keeping his voice calm and polite. "I'm not whining, Professor. I'm just asking why I can't get a wand and start practicing some of these things."

"You are much too young to be duelling, Draco."

"I don't want to learn how to duel. It's too hard. I just want to learn some easy spells so I don't have to carry things and do things the muggle way."

Severus was about to retort that Draco never did any chores anyway, but then decided he wasn't wasting anymore time arguing with a seven year old.

"You're getting a wand when Lucius and Narcissa say you do. Until then, you'll live life the same way all other seven year old wizards do."

Draco pulled a face but went back to his book and Severus turned his attention back to Emma, who grinned at him.

"Can I not learn duelling either, sir, because it's too hard?"

Severus narrowed his eyes at her. "Ms. Treagle, if you want to be held to the same standards as a seven year old, I can remove your wand and then you won't have to practice duelling or your wand work."

That abruptly shut Emma's mouth and her duelling partner, Nicholas Debair roared with laughter at her from across the room.

XXXXXX

"No, Ms. Tonks! Watch my wand movement again! Closely!"

Tonks wiped the sweat from her forehead and glared at her head of house for a moment. She was exhausted and sick of practicing. She had spent her entire weekend doing homework and extra assignments, practicing animal transformations and now she had already spent twenty minutes duelling and practicing spells while the rest of the house was relaxing.

Severus once again went through the movement necessary to conjure a three point shield.

"Start at the top, not the sides of the triangle! Starting at the sides makes you lose focus of how high up you made the shield and might allow something to get through! Now do it again!"

Gasping for breath, she stood there for a moment, wand hanging loosely in her hands, wanting nothing more than to scream at him that she was done for the day and wanted to go sit with her friends and be lazy.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you waiting for, Ms. Tonks? Is a simple shield spell too much for you?"

She abruptly clenched her jaw and straightened up. "No, sir."

Getting into duelling position, she focused, moving her wand so it was at the right height to be the top of her triangular shield.

She kept her eyes focused on the small hovering ball which would shoot out a babbling curse any second. She slowed her breathing, focused and let the rest of the world fade away like the Professor had taught her.

As soon as she saw the ball start to glow slightly, she knew the spell was coming and quickly thought the incantation and tore her wand down into the triangular shape with precise, strong slashes. Not a moment later, the curse flew out of the ball and hit her shield and bounced back.

Grinning, she lowered her shield and glanced at Severus.

"Not bad, Ms. Tonks. A surprising amount of enthusiasm and competence, considering it's a Hogsmeade weekend."

"I'll have plenty of time to go to Hogsmeade in my life, Professor. This is more important."

Severus stared at her for a long time before turning away and Vanishing the ball. "That will be all for today, Ms. Tonks. Go amuse yourself and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Tomorrow we continue."

"Yes, sir."

XXXXXX

Severus tuned out most of the headmaster's speech about who had won last and third place that year. He amused himself by seeing the anxious, wide eyed looks on his Slytherins. This was the only time of year when all of his Slytherins had the exact same looks on their faces, whether they had just finished their first year, or whether they had already graduated and come back to help out and support their house, like Raymond and Miranda.

"—and for the third year in a row, Slytherin house is the winner of our Quidditch and House Cups! Congratulations once again!"

As his house exploded in cheers and screams, Severus smirked at the rest of the school, standing to shake the headmaster's hand and accept the Cup he had only handed back to him that morning.

After shaking Flitwick's hand and getting a jerky nod from a glaring Sprout, Severus turned and smirked at Minerva, who had her lips pressed very tightly and forcibly released the fork she had been holding.

"Congratulations, Professor Snape," she bit out.

Severus grinned. "Thank you very much, Professor McGonagall. Now, now, there is no reason to look so upset. Better luck next year, hmm?"

Giving her a parting smirk, he swept away from the table to go celebrate with his house, leaving a glaring Minerva behind.

"It was just another fluke, Professor Snape! A fluke!" he heard her yell after him.

"If it'll make you happier, Professor, think of it as a fluke. But for a fluke, it is being remarkably repetitive, don't you think?" Shooting a smirk over his shoulder at her, he kept going.

XXXXXX

"Professor?"

Severus glanced up where Derrick Sommers had poked his head in.

"Mr. Sommers, come in. All packed?"

"Yes, sir." Derrick came in, closely followed by Nicholas Debair and Emma Treagle.

"I wanted to give you the list of potential Keepers that you wanted. Cam said he'll floo me in September and we'll come by to help with try outs."

Severus nodded. "Good. It'll be one hell of a job replacing my Keeper and one of my best Chasers."

Nicholas looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't be, Mr. Debair. You've earned this graduation. All of you have."

"I'll come back with Derrick and Cam in September to help Carling with try-outs."

"That would be very appreciated."

The three of them smiled at him and Emma looked at the other two as if waiting for them to ask something and then rolled her eyes and looked at her head of house.

"We wanted to ask if it would be alright if we dropped by from time to time. Like Cam and Ray and Miranda and the others do."

"Of course, Ms. Treagle. You're Slytherins for life, and I expect you to remember that and act like it. And you all know you will always be welcome at Hogwarts and in this house, whether you need it as a refuge, or just to see some familiar faces."

Thanking him, Nicholas stepped forward and shook his hand firmly. "Thank you, sir. Really. I'd probably still be repeating third year if it hadn't been for you. Or been chucked out entirely."

"You did the work, Mr. Debair. I just pushed and nagged. Never forget the work you did over these past few years."

"Yes, sir. It was my own attitude that was holding me back. I know that now, sir. It won't happen again."

"Good."

After both Derrick and Nicholas bid their good byes, Emma was about to follow, but she paused at the door and looked back.

"Thanks again, sir."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "For what, Ms. Treagle? You were on task from the moment we both set foot into the school."

She smiled. "You taught me a lot, sir."

"You're a good student, Ms. Treagle."

She shrugged. "Maybe. But learning how to be a Slytherin wasn't on the curriculum. Neither was hand washing charms. I learned them both from you, and believe me, sir, I will use those skills."

"Especially the hand washing charm, I would hope."

She laughed. "Yes, sir. I'll be teaching that one to my kids one day. Then I'll send them to Hogwarts and hope they're sorted into Slytherin."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Make sure that's a long ways off, you hear?"

Laughing, she thanked him one more time and then bid him good bye, saying she'd be back to visit in September.

Severus sat in his office for a long time, staring at the door. Finally, Gorgon appeared beside him and asked what he was looking at.

"I made her a potion for her homesickness seven years ago, Gorgon. We've been doing this for seven years! _Seven_ _years_!"

Gorgon grinned. "Time flies sometimes, huh?"

"I don't remember time going this quickly when I was younger."

Gorgon snorted. "Part of getting old, young master."

Severus glared at him and chucked an empty chocolate frog box at him while his elf laughed and turned the box into a sock before flinging it back towards him.


	18. Chapter 18

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 18

"People don't change that much…"

"Yes, they do. They grow up and they accept responsibilities, and they realize that 'die young, stay pretty' isn't exactly all it's cracked up to be."

- Dawson's Creek

School Year, 1988 – 1989

Hogwarts School

"Creber, what kind of a catch was that? A first year Puff could have caught that with their eyes closed and arms tied behind their backs! I expect a lot better from a shiny new prefect!"

Cameron chuckled as he thudded down the bleachers and sat down beside Tonks and Severus. "Carling's in a lovely mood this morning, huh?"

Tonks grinned, not looking up from the ancient rune assignment she was finishing. "Professor Snape told her some scouts would be coming out to see her play this year. She's been training the team harder than ever."

"The additional exercise won't kill anybody," Severus muttered, looking over Spencer's OWL revision schedule one last time before handing it up to Leland.

"Do we know which games the scouts will be coming to, sir?" Leland asked, dutifully ticking off Spencer's name on the master list of all current Slytherin students.

"The headmaster will be informed on the day that the scouts will be attending. They want to observe the individual playing as normally as possible."

"Which for Carling means that she's going to be screaming all over the place and threatening everybody on the pitch and in the stands with her bat," Tonks laughed.

The other Slytherins on the stand chuckled.

"Let's just hope the scouts like them feisty," Cameron said, shading his eyes against the early morning sun to watch the new Chasers going through a play.

"That's our Ms. Dayton," Severus put in. Finishing another schedule, he handed it to Leland and then glanced up and yelled at Carling to finish up the last drill and that it was time for breakfast.

XXXXXX

"—and after this precise series of diagnostic spells, you'll be able to see the magical strands of the curse intertwined with the magical core of the individual affected."

Tonks nodded, scribbling on the parchment on the desk before her. The rest of the classroom was deserted, everybody else taking their free hour of time between tutorial and bed time. According to the other Slytherins, Tonks was staying behind to redo a transfiguration paper she 'botched'.

"Now, depending on what type of curse it was, the strands will have integrated with the core in different ways."

Flicking his wand at the blackboard, Severus put up three different diagrams. One of them had a ball of bluish strands surrounded by black strands, another had a black ball of strands inside the blue ball, and the third showed the black strands intertwined with the blue.

"These are the three most common and widely used curse types, Ms. Tonks. Which one would be most easily removed?"

She frowned and pointed at the first one, Lexina winding her way out of Tonks' pocket and onto the desk. "That one, sir. The curse is only wrapped around a person's core and could be peeled off."

"And the most difficult?"

"The last one. Each strand of the curse would have to be physically separated from the core."

"Yes. The last one is a nearly impossible situation to fix. The curse strands are so tightly interwoven with a person's core that removing the strands almost always leads to core damage."

"What sort of damage, sir?"

"Best case scenario would be leaving the person with a weaker magical ability than before. Worst case scenario, the person is left a squib. However, anything in between is also possible."

"Can the core be healed?"

"Not easily and the damage will never be fully reversed. In addition, if the curse strands are not removed quickly enough, they start breaking and tearing a person's core."

"Which is why curses are so often fatal."

"Precisely. Now, the other two types, while are also difficult and dangerous to remove, aren't as difficult. Did you get all that, Ms. Tonks?"

"Yes, sir," Tonks muttered, scribbling more notes.

"Good. Tomorrow we will start discussing how one goes about temporarily removing somebody's core to remove such a curse. It is very difficult and very advanced magic, Ms. Tonks. I won't expect you to be able to do it, but I will expect you to know the process. You never know when you will have to coach somebody through the process to save someone's life. Even if you don't have the magical ability, you should have the knowledge."

Tonks finished labeling the diagrams she had drawn and then leaned back, sticking her quill behind her ear. She reached out a hand and coaxed her snake to wind her way up her arm.

"Sir, why don't we learn this in Defense?"

"The ministry doesn't want to teach you about such curses, Ms. Tonks. Nor do they want to teach students how to remove someone's core, which has always been considered an act of the darkest magic because of the damage one can do to another's core. They don't want to give any potential murderers weapons."

"But if somebody wanted to learn how to use such curses, they could just look them up. All this does is prevent people from having the knowledge to help."

"Ms. Tonks, if we start arguing about the lunacy that is the ministry's policy on dark magic and everything associated with it, we'll be here all night. Suffice it to say that everything you have to say on the subject, I have already been thinking and saying for years. As long as there will be at least one Auror in the ministry who has the knowledge necessary to save a life threatened by dark magic, that will be enough for me."

"Yes, sir."

"That will be enough for today, Ms. Tonks. I want you to read and memorize the chapter from the book I leant you for tomorrow. It describes which curses fall under which category."

"Something the ministry wouldn't want me to know, huh?"

"Something which no professor in this school would want you to know. Which is why you are to keep these lessons and the materials I give and lend you quiet."

"Always, sir."

XXXXXX

Yawning, Carling stretched her arms above her head and then froze, remembering what day it was. Wiggling her toes, she felt the reassuring weight of her stocking by her feet. Grinning, she rolled over, grabbed her pillow and flung it across the room at her brother. Leland snorted and jerked awake.

"Wha—? Carling!"

"Wake up, Leland!" She cried, throwing the covers off herself and grabbing her stocking.

Leland heard the rustling and immediately grabbed his own stocking. They tore through them, grinning. They found the usual assortment of treats and new socks from the headmaster.

Carling unwrapped a chocolate frog and started munching on it.

"The Professor will kill you if he knows you're eating sweets before breakfast," Leland muttered, not looking up from the Bertie Bott's Beans he was sorting through.

Carling shrugged. "You can do a mouthwash charm on me before we go down."

Finishing her chocolate frog, she suddenly frowned. "You know this is our last Christmas in the castle?"

Leland looked up from his sorting. "Yeah. Feels kind of strange."

They both mulled that over before they heard a familiar voice yelling for them to hurry up of he'd send their presents back to the store. Laughing, the two of them leapt out of bed and stuffed their things into their stockings. Leland quickly did a mouthwash charm on Carling and they ran out of the boys dormitory and down in to the common room.

Severus was already there, sitting on one of the couches and flicking his wand at the Christmas tree in the corner, making the lights twinkle.

He glanced up when they came down. "About time. I remember when I used to catch you two sitting here at five in the morning."

Carling grinned. "We've gotten older and wiser, sir. Merry Christmas!"

Leland snorted and dropped down on the couch beside his head of house. "And we've finally accepted that your timing charms on the presents are unbreakable. Merry Christmas, sir."

Carling rolled her eyes and dropped onto the floor, leaning against the couch while Severus returned the greeting. They all calmly waited until seven o'clock came and the charms on the presents preventing them from being touched faded.

Then two wands came out and the twins summoned their presents over to them. While they tore into the wrapping, Severus frowned at the tree.

"Ms. Dayton, why do I recognize many of the ornaments from upstairs?"

Carling shot him a sly grin over her shoulder. "It's not like I stripped the rest of the castle, sir! But there isn't anybody in the other common rooms and we're hardly in the Great Hall anyway, so why the hell would all the best decorations be in there?"

He rolled his eyes. "I trust you at least replaced them with something."

"Of course," she scoffed and then grinned at Leland. "We replaced them with little red lions."

"And why would you replace them with such obvious Gryff things? It'll be obvious that it wasn't the Gryffs." He was deliberately being obtuse and Carling rolled her eyes.

"I'm not twelve anymore, sir! That's so easy! It'll be obvious that it wasn't the Gryffs, but it won't be obvious which of the other three houses it was. That's why we didn't leave any badgers or ravens behind."

Leland piped up over the crinkle of wrapping paper. "We thought about leaving snakes, ravens and badgers, but thought we'd be kind."

Carling nodded and gave him a huge grin over her shoulder. "You know, it being Christmas and all."

After they had unwrapped their usual presents consisting of new clothes and shoes and gift certificates to use down at Hogsmeade during visits, they came to their special gifts. They each got one every year, never the same thing.

This year, Leland got a beautiful drawing pad which had self erasing pages as well as duplicating pages and best of all, was self filling so it would never run out of clean, new pages. Carling got a brand new copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages', so shiny that she immediately cast preservation charms on it. Once the break was over and the other Slytherins came back, she didn't let any of the younger years touch it before making them wash their hands.

After they had thanked him for their presents and put their things away upstairs, Severus sent them up to breakfast and then wandered back to his own room to open his own stocking and present.

He spent a moment running a finger over the old, frayed cloth of his stocking, remembering how long ago he had first opened his eyes to see it at the foot of his bed, Gabby shrieking 'Merry Christmas' at him and him having no clue what was going on. He still couldn't believe the headmaster had kept it after he had left. Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he dumped the contents out onto his bed, Gabby and Gorgon eagerly peering over his shoulder.

He got the usual socks and sweets in his stocking from the headmaster, as well as a year long subscription to 'Draught of Knowledge' a monthly potions journal that he hadn't been able to afford.

Gabby started sorting through his sweets, complaining over ones that she hadn't received and gloating over ones she had, and Gorgon rushed to the calendar to check how long they had to wait until the first copy of the journal would arrive.

Then he turned to the last present in his pile. The first year he had seen it, he couldn't understand who else would send him a present. The headmaster was the only one who ever got him anything, and he always put all his gifts in his stocking.

Then he'd turned it over and seen the tag on it. "To Professor Snape. From Your Slytherins."

How and when they found the time to all get together to plan his Christmas present was beyond him. He had tried to catch them for years, but, being Slytherins, they always expected him to catch them and took extra precautions.

He had gotten a wide assortment of things from them. The year after they had won both Cups, he had gotten a beautiful golden quill, a gift he knew to be horrendously expensive. He had gathered his house as soon as they all returned from Christmas break and thanked them for it but told them he couldn't accept such an expensive gift. They hadn't allowed him to return it, saying their parents had only been too happy to pitch in. It was their way of thanking him for having brought them to where they were.

Remembering the quill, he smiled as he tore into his present, wondering what his Slytherins had thought to give him this year.

Feeling soft fabric beneath his fingers, he frowned and then gaped as he uncovered beautiful green cloth.

Gorgon abandoned the calendar and Gabby left his sweets as they waited for him to shake it out.

"Oh, it beautiful!" Gabby breathed.

"It very lovely," Gorgon murmured, leaning close to study the fabric. "Very expensive too. Good quality. Will last through all nasty weather and cleaning charms. Very smart of little snakes."

Severus stared at the beautiful green fabric. They had bought him Quidditch robes. Green Slytherin quidditch robes. They looked different from the team's actual robes—they didn't have his name on the back, but they did have the Quidditch symbol in the front. There was a small note attached to the robes. "Now you can support the team without spending time charming your robes different colors, sir. We look forward to seeing them shown off at first practice after the break!"

Grinning, Severus carefully folded up the robe. "Gorgon, put it away for me, please. I don't want to ruin them before practice."

Gorgon nodded and gently took the robe from him and placed it in his closet.

Still smiling and touched by the gift, Severus told Gabby she could have his sweets—except for the chocolate—and that he had to get up to breakfast to thank two of his snakes and the headmaster for their gifts.

"Is Master Severus coming to kitchen later for little party?"

Severus shot her a grin over his shoulder. "As long as you don't finish all the butterbeer before I get there."

XXXXXX

Dirty and sweating, Carling stumbled into the changing room, grinning ear to ear.

"Did you see the Claw Seeker? Nearly started bawling, she did!"

Leland leapt on his sister the second she entered the changing room. "Carling, you have to get changed right away!"

She frowned, tossing her bat onto the floor. "Why? It's Saturday."

Leland rolled his eyes. "The scout, Carling! The scout was here!"

Carling's eyes widened and she gaped at her brother. "He was here? _Here_?"

"It was a she, Carling, but yes, she was here! She came in with the headmaster and watched from the stands! She's off speaking to Professor Snape now and he sent me to get you. She wants to speak to you."

"About what? She's seen me play, what else does she want?" Carling's muffled voice carried out from where she was wrestling off her Quidditch robes.

Leland grabbed the top of the robes and started helping her pull them off. "I don't know! Probably to ask how long you've played and why you like playing and what kind of a person you are."

Finally having gotten out of her robes, she yanked on her school robes and threw her tie around her neck, knotting it frantically before her brother knocked her hands away and did it properly. Meanwhile, Spencer and the rest of the team started throwing charms at her, cleaning the mud off her face and making her hair and robes neat.

"The Professor said it's very important that you're polite and respectful."

"Sucking-up polite or just polite-polite?"

"Polite-polite, he said. Nothing phoney. Just be yourself, he says that's very important, but keep a hold of your temper."

When she finally looked decent, Leland yelled at the rest of the team to clean up the stuff and then grabbed his sister and sprinted out of the changing room and up to the castle, taking the shortcut along the side of the castle to get to the dungeons faster.

XXXXXX

"—and therefore we know the optimal angle for attempting this charm is between 45 and 135 degrees. Once again, measuring the angle from your toes upwards."

Tonks shot her hand up into the air, remembering what Professor Snape and her had discussed last year some time.

"Yes, Ms. Tonks?"

"Sir, wouldn't it make the spell more powerful if you cast it once with your left and once with your right arm, both times holding your wand at 60 degrees from your body?"

Professor Flitwick blinked once and then a smile spread over his face. "Absolutely correct, Ms. Tonks. Can you also tell me why this would be the case?"

"Because of the vector geometry of the two spells, sir. They would meet and add up to have double the force of the original charm."

"Quite right, quite right. Ten points to Slytherin. Now, I don't want anybody else to worry about what Ms. Tonks said. That is quite advanced magic and will not be covered this year. But I must say, well done, Ms. Tonks. Been doing extra reading, have you?"

Tonks smiled. "Something like that, sir."

XXXXXX

"So the goblins signed the accord in 1852 with the Wizengamot," Spencer said to Ravenia, who was sitting with a huge pile of history notes in front of her.

She sighed. "No, Spencer. They signed it in 1582 and it wasn't with the Wizengamot, it was with the High Council of Warlocks. They didn't have a Wizengamot until 1603."

"Right, right. So the giants signed the accord in 1503 with the High Council."

Ravenia gave him a long suffering look and then let her head fall onto the desk and groaned loudly. "No, Spencer!"

Cursing under his breath, Spencer let his own head fall onto the desk. After wallowing in his misery for a long moment, he glanced up.

"Professor Snape?"

Severus glanced up from where he was inspecting the contents of a second year's cauldron. "What is it, Mr. Creber?"

"I don't want to do an OWL in history. Can I drop history now?"

"No. Ms. Fennel, add two more drops of hellebore syrup."

"I added all five drops, sir."

"If you had, then the potion would have turned dark blue, not stopped at a light blue. You obviously borrowed your definition of a drop from a newt."

Sighing, she added two more drops and her potion turned the proper blue.

Spencer tried again. "But I can't do this, sir!"

"You can and you will, Mr. Creber. It's not that difficult. We have plenty of time to study, and lucky for you, you don't have to do much revision for Charms or Potions."

"Great, so I get to spend all year doing stupid history."

"I'm thrilled to see you so enthused about the prospect."

Spencer let his head fall back onto the table. "I don't want to do this, sir!"

"And I don't care, Mr. Creber. Now, go over it again. The accord signed by the goblins and the High Council was signed in what year?"

Spencer sighed. "I don't know. Yesterday?"

"Two points from Slytherin. What year?"

Spencer's eyes had widened at the point loss and he sat up straight. "Uhm, 15…152—no, no, 1582! 1582, sir!"

"Good. Who was the 1582 accord signed by?"

"The—the goblins and the High Council, sir."

"Was that painful, Mr. Creber?"

"Kinda, sir."

Severus waved a hand at the second year, telling her to continue and swept up the aisle and paused beside Spencer's desk. Leaning down, he pretended to be squinting at the notes lying in front of Spencer. "Mr. Creber, I don't care what your personal opinion on history of magic is. You can love it, or you can hate it. What I will not stand for is to have a prefect moaning and groaning about not wanting to study. I made you a role model for the rest of the house, Mr. Creber. If you won't live up to the expectations of that position, I will remove it." He had said it quietly enough that not even Ravenia had heard him.

Spencer swallowed hard and sat up straighter. "My apologies, sir. I forgot about that."

"See that it doesn't happen again."

Severus swept back up to the front, watching as Spencer turned to Ravenia and demanded she quiz him again.

XXXXXX

Smirking, Severus glanced at Minerva, who had turned bright red at the announcement that for the fourth year in a row, Slytherin house was taking both Cups back to the dungeons.

After shaking a grinning Flitwick's hand and exchanging a usual tense nod with Sprout, Severus shook the headmaster's hand and accepted the Cup.

Before standing up to join his house, Severus slightly bent down beside Minerva.

"You know, I think I'm getting back problems from hauling the Cups up and down the same flight of stairs year after year after year."

She glared. "We'd be glad to take them off your hands."

"Oh, you can try, Professor McGonagall, but I'm afraid, if this is all the effort your Gryffindors are willing to put in, I'll be using a cane long before you bring this Cup back up to those towers of yours."

With a parting smirk, he went to join his house.

XXXXXX

Hearing a quiet knock on his door, Severus glanced up. "Mr. Dayton."

Leland stepped into the classroom. "Hey, sir."

"All packed?"

Leland nodded. "It's weird, sir. Carling and I haven't packed up our things in nearly six years. It's almost embarrassing how much junk we've accumulated."

Severus gave him a soft smile as he checked the last of the school cauldrons, seeing which ones would be retired this year and which ones would need heavy duty cleaning charms to serve out another year.

Leland came over and started helping put away some spare ingredients that Severus always left laid out during the year. He smelled some of them and dumped the bad ones into the garbage and sealed the rest into boxes and sent them flying towards the storage room.

"Congratulations on being accepted, by the way. The Wales Institute of Fine Arts isn't a place that just accepts anybody."

"I know, sir. Thank you. It's still doesn't seem quite real to me, but it'll sink in. Having Carling yelling it into my ear twenty times a day will do that. I can't wait to take real drawing classes, sir."

"Are you ready to go to a muggle school, Mr. Dayton?"

Leland shrugged. "I've spoken to that woman at the ministry half a dozen times. It won't be difficult. She already helped me find an apartment close to the college. She says if I practice not doing any magic over the summer, it'll be old hat for me by the time classes start."

Severus nodded. "And has Ms. Dayton decided which team she would like to try out for?"

"She's going to try for the Holyhead Harpies, sir. She likes the thought of a witch only team. She says that's the only reason, but I know it's because they're based in Wales and my school's there too."

"So you and Ms. Dayton will be sharing an apartment?"

"I want to, sir. It'll be strange enough not having Carling around every single day. It'll be too much of a change to not live with her. The ministry doesn't think it's a good idea. They think Carling can't be trusted not to do magic in the apartment."

"You leave that to me, Mr. Dayton. I will get the headmaster to straighten that out. As long as Ms. Dayton agrees not to do magic in the apartment, she'll be fine. And she has always been remarkably good about following the rules when your safety and emotional well being are at stake."

Leland smiled, putting the lid on the last box and sending into the storage room. "That she is, sir." He hoisted himself onto a desk.

They were interrupted by the sound of Carling yelling at somebody outside the door to give her a pair of socks, since she had lost all of hers. Moments later, she appeared in the classroom doorway, grinning and holding a pair of socks.

"Hey! There you two are! Merlin's balls, sir, I'd completely forgotten how awful it is to have to pack everything. I had to minimize almost everything to fit it in. How the hell we accumulated this much junk is beyond me."

"There's a reason I live here, Ms. Dayton."

"Lucky," Carling murmured, going over and sitting on a desk beside her brother. "So, can you go straighten out that hag at the ministry, sir? The one who's saying I can't live with Leland? Because that's just not on."

"Mr. Dayton and I were just discussing it. I will speak to the headmaster and we will get it sorted out."

She grinned. "Cool, sir."

She nudged her brother with her shoulder. "Hey, it'll be weird, won't it? Not living here anymore?" She stared around. "Damn, we spent a lot of time in this room. Lots of potions classes, lots of tutorials and lots of detentions."

Leland chuckled. "Yeah, we did."

"Hey, sir?"

"Yes, Ms. Dayton?"

"We can come back, right? To visit?"

"Of course you can. You know that."

"And what about if we get kicked out of our apartment or we can't make rent or something?"

"You will always have a home here, Ms. Dayton. Although I urge you both to try to make it on your own. However, I will always only be a floo call away."

"Cool, sir. And hey, after I make the team, I'll come and give you tickets to all our games. You'll come watch, won't you, sir?"

"When I can, Ms. Dayton."

"Good." She hopped off the desk. "Well, I have to go hunt up more socks. I don't know what I did with them all but only having one pair isn't on. I've gotten spoiled living here, sir."

"Try to give somebody something in exchange for the socks, Ms. Dayton."

She threw a sly grin over her shoulder. "Sure will, sir." Before she reached the door, she spun back around. "Hey, sir?"

"Yes, Ms. Dayton?"

"Thanks. For everything. I thought things would suck having you as head and living with the rules and the schedule and everything, but it actually didn't."

Severus chuckled. "Go find socks, Ms. Dayton. The train will be here soon."

"Right. Anyway, I'll send you an owl telling you about the apartment and try outs."

With that, she ducked out of the room and trailed back to the common room. "Hey, Creber! How many socks do you have? Never mind why, just tell me! Thirty?! Thirty? What do you need thirty socks for? Give me some."

Leland laughed and jumped off the desk. "I should go and get the rest of my stuff put away, sir."

Severus nodded. "You do that."

Leland trailed to the door and then stopped and turned back like his sister had done. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I know Carling already said it, but I have to say it too. Thank you. You gave Carling and I a life we'd never even dreamed of. You made us like being in school and you gave us a home. It'll be tough not being here, but you taught us how to keep our chins in the air no matter what."

"A lesson that I hope you will always remember and adhere to, Mr. Dayton. Never forget that you are a Slytherin and what that means."

"I won't, sir."

"Good. Now, I know Ms. Dayton already said she'd send word about the shenanigans you two will get up to, but Ms. Dayton's accounts of events tend to be rather sparse. I expect full, detailed accounts of everything."

Leland grinned. "Of course, sir. We'll come by some time in the summer and if I know Carling, she'll be here in September to help pick a new captain and beater."

"I will hold you both to that."


	19. Chapter 19

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 19

A/N: As always, thank you for your wonderful reviews! Notice the dates? We're almost in the 90's! Enjoy!

To answer a lovely review that Lettuce left me concerning Severus and Bella's trials, first of all, thank you for piping up with your concerns. I realize that in the real world, Bella would be put in a psychiatric institution (and on some pretty hefty medication) and require counseling rather than a prison sentence. Additionally, I realize that Severus would be guilty of manslaughter (Nadia Geller) and being charged with accomplice to murder in the case of the others. However, the wizarding world doesn't seem to have the kind of hospitals that could cater to Bella's needs, not to mention that they despised her and wanted her to suffer and didn't care about her mental health. Additionally, Azkaban was so overrun with prisoners (and many of them being young adults) after the war that the Wizengamot would jump at seeing somebody being vouched for and showing the potential to become a productive member of their society. Surviving as a small society is difficult if one half of the population has to work to support the other half living behind bars. Thank you for bringing this up and I hope I justified myself!

'And life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be.'

- Grandma Moses

Summer, 1989

Hogwarts School

Hearing a quiet knock on his workshop door, Severus looked up to see Cameron sticking his head in. "Morning, sir."

"Mr. Alanson! Come in."

"Am I disturbing you, sir?"

"I'm in the middle of brewing but if you lend me a hand I'll be done in ten minutes."

Cameron came over and grabbed the roots Severus handed him. Summoning one of the silver knives to himself, he lined up the roots on the cutting board. "What thickness, sir?"

"1/4 inches."

Severus continued stirring the bubbling potion, doing three clockwise stirs followed by a counter clockwise stir. He used a freezing charm to stop the liquid from spinning any further in either direction than he wanted it to.

Cameron cut in silence until he was finished and then pushed the cut roots over to him. Taking the board, Severus dumped in the roots while continuing stirring. Peering into it, he nodded and put up a shield around the potion.

"That needs to simmer for about two hours."

Cleaning up some of the things lying around, Severus motioned for Cameron to start for the door and together they trailed down the corridor to his own quarters. Opening the doors, Severus called up Gabby and asked her to bring down some refreshments for them.

Cameron threw himself into the chair he usually sat in and Severus sat down opposite him.

"The dungeons sound rather empty, sir."

"They are. All the students went home this summer."

"Even Ravenia? I thought she was staying."

"She went to stay with the Crebers again. I spoke to Mrs. Creber and she assured me Ms. Bellamy was nothing but pleasant and polite last summer."

Cameron grinned. "You'd think her and Spencer would get sick of each other, being together year round."

Severus shrugged. "Some friends are inseparable, Mr. Alanson. Others need breathing room."

"Which apparently isn't the case with these two."

Severus chuckled. Gabby appeared with a tray of drinks and Severus smiled as both he and Cameron reached for the glasses of juice and ignored the firewhisky.

"Still not a fan, sir?"

"Not anymore."

"I think we both drank too much of the stuff when we were underage to have any desire for it now."

Severus nodded. Cameron didn't know that Severus had never been a real part of his own house when he had been a student and hadn't lived the hard partying lifestyle that the rest of Slytherin house had become accustomed to—and that Cameron had started his school experience with—but he and Evans had drank enough while underage to give any former Slytherin a run for their money.

"So how are things at the ministry?"

"Things are going. I have to say I don't understand how Mr. Eddington has been getting things done for the past thirty years, sir."

Cameron was currently working for the magical research department at the ministry. Due to his stellar NEWT marks and university marks, he had been accepted to work in the department after graduation from the university, and had been doing magical research for the past three years. He had been upgraded to be a full time researcher just a few weeks ago and now had his own lab. The only downside was that he now had regular contact with their department head, Tegan Eddington, whereas before, his own lab coordinator dealt with him.

"How so? The headmaster never has anything but pleasant things to say about Mr. Eddington."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. The man's the nicest person you'll ever come across, but he's a researcher and he's a Claw."

"Aw. Say no more."

Cameron laughed. "I found it humorous for about a week sir, but after that, it got draining. The man just gives money to whoever asks for it and never follows to see where it goes or bothers asking when he'll get more. He's too busy sticking his noses into everybody else's wandwork. I don't mind that. The man's brilliant and loves his job, obviously, but as a head of department, he's lacking some key qualities."

Severus grimaced. "That's what happens when you put a Claw in charge."

"Yes, sir. I'm thinking that I'm going to start helping him a bit."

"How so?"

"Putting tracers on the money that comes out of the department fund for starters. I have a suspicion that Bloater used part of his research money to buy his daughter a new broom last week. I can't prove that, but if I put tracers on now, I can prevent it from happening again."

"Do you have a specific tracer in mind?"

Cameron shrugged. "I thought of two, but both of them become detectable when triggered."

"Why not intertwine the tracer with a shield charm?"

"Putting one over the other doesn't work. I've tried it."

"What about actually intertwining them?"

"Simultaneous casting you mean?"

"Yes."

Cameron frowned and thought it over. "It could work. I'll ask some of the elves to help me. I would ask Tegan, but he refuses to believe people are taking advantage and stealing department money from him so he won't do it. It's partly why I need the proof. Maybe if I shove enough of it under his nose, he'll start being more careful."

"I would also start keeping an eye on the numerous papers that cross Mr. Eddington's desk everyday. I hear that he doesn't often bother reading them."

"Yes, sir. I already got a volunteer to start keeping his papers more organized and start keeping clearer records of things."

"How on earth did you get a volunteer, Mr. Alanson? Why would anybody not demand payment for such a dreary job?"

Cameron grinned. "I did some digging and found out she's been wanting to work in the department for years but doesn't have the necessary recommendations or technical knowledge. So I told her I'd let her observe and help out with research every Tuesday and Thursday if she became Eddington's secretary for free."

"If you just lead her on, Mr. Alanson, she'll eventually figure it out."

"I'm not entirely leading her on, sir. She'll never be good enough to do actual research, but if she keeps this up, we can hire her as a part time secretary and part time lab assistant. We always need people fixing broken things and checking all auto-quills and other things. She says she's happy as long as she's in the department, so we all win."

Severus grinned. "How very Slytherin of you, Mr. Alanson."

Cameron grinned back and took a sip of his juice, balancing his chair on its back legs. "Thank you, sir."

XXXXXX

_"You know, I can't remember how many times I've expressed my distaste for this activity."_

_"Nobody forced you to come along, bird."_ Severus hoisted himself out of the tower window and carefully balanced his way across roof. Gabby and Gorgon followed behind him and Myrtle was floating lazily above their heads.

Reaching the flatter part of the roof, he slowly sat down, reaching out to help his elf and Gabby find a secure spot.

Fawkes was still muttering as he flew off Severus' shoulder and landed on the roof beside them.

They all took a few moments to absorb some sunshine. Even with Quidditch practices and games, the headmaster still insisted they all spent too much time indoors.

Finally Gabby snapped her fingers and a tray of snacks appeared. Gorgon lay back on the roof, closing his eyes and reached for a biscuit and Myrtle sighed grumpily over not being able to eat them too.

Severus pulled out the letter he had received that morning at breakfast and carefully unfolded it.

"Alright, ready?" he asked, interrupting Myrtle.

_Dear Professor Snape,_

_We would have written much earlier, but life has been so busy for both of us!_

Gabby snorted. "Yes, first summer those two not lazing around dungeons entire summer."

Gorgon reached over and smacked her knee. "Shush! Gorgy listening!"

_Carling had training camp five days a week for the past month and a half. I've gone to quite a few of the practices, and let me tell you, I'm so glad that I never liked sports much. I can't believe how much they make them fly and run around, and some of the drills are even worse than the ones you put Carling through last summer! If it were me, I would have dropped dead or given up weeks ago, but not Carling. _

Gabby snorted again. "Obviously. Miss Carling never admitting defeat."

"Gabrielle, either shut it or I won't read out loud."

_She spends the entire practice sweating, gasping for breath and still manages to have enough breath to scream at every one around her for being too slow. Some of the other Beaters are really good. Most of them are a few years older than Carling, and one of them has already played for the Wimbourne Wasps—_

"Isn't that team Master Ludo play Beater for?"

Severus scowled and threw the biscuit he was about to eat at Gabby's head. "Yes, elf, now be quiet! Merlin's beard!"

"Gabby just asking! Sheesh! And if Master Severus wanting to throw biscuits, should aim for Gabby's mouth!"

_—but I overheard the coaches saying that Carling had quite a good chance of making the team. The decision was just announced last night, and Carling made the team! We went out for ice cream to celebrate. _

_On another note, we are getting used to living in the apartment. The first few days were really strange. I kept getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and walking into the wall because the door wasn't where I was used to it being. Carling found it hilarious. Carling really misses having three meals magically appear out of nowhere and having our rooms cleaned up. It's worse because we're not allowed to use magic to do any of it. But the people at the ministry have been great. They've given us books and pamphlets on everything from cooking to using the wash machine in the basement. I've been learning how to get through the 'muggle' way, and I have to say it isn't that bad. Carling isn't too fond of it, but once she learned how to use the television and was told that her pay is worth more in Pounds than in Galleons, she's been coming around. I don't mind doing most of the house work. Carling is busy reading over my shoulder just now, and she would like me to point out that she does in fact help out when she can, but it isn't her fault that practice makes her tired and that she can't remember how to turn on the stove no matter how many times I show her. _

_Anyway, my classes are going to start in September. I've already signed up and gone to the school for a little orientation. The place is tiny compared to Hogwarts and all the classrooms are shiny and new. The table legs are so bright that I can see myself in them! I went and bought myself supplies in London yesterday (Carling came with me) and I've been trying out the different pencils and paints and things that we'll be using. Carling's very amused at the eraser. She keeps scribbling on things with the pencil and then erasing it. She says this must be the closest muggles get to magic. Well, that and the whole light switch thing, which we still can't get over. _

_Anyway, Carling is in the kitchen banging things around, and we both know that that's never a good sign. _

_We miss you and Hogwarts lots! You promised to write us and tell us what's been going on at the school (especially once school starts again) and we'll hold you to that. Or I'll be forced to send Carling up to the school to remind you. No, that wasn't a threat, sir. It's simply the way things are. We'll write again soon!_

_Your__ Slytherins, _

_Leland and Carling Dayton_


	20. Chapter 20

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 20

'Give every man your ear, but few your voice.'

- 'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare

School Year, 1989 – 1990

Hogwarts School

Carling continued frowning at her former Quidditch teammates flying around the pitch, helping run drills for the Slytherins trying out for different positions.

"I like Flint, sir."

Severus didn't take his eyes off the drill the potential Beaters were going through. He winced when Evan Bole swung his Beater's bat too enthusiastically and completely missed the bludgers and hit himself in the face with it instead. To his credit, the second year shook it off and continued with the drill.

Carling had followed his gaze and scowled at the fumble, viciously crossing Bole off the list of potential beaters.

Severus turned back to his former captain. "You were saying something about Flint?"

"Yes, sir. He's fourth year this year and he was a damn good chaser last year. He's going to be back on the team this year and he's been helping run drills really well."

"You really think he has what it takes to be captain?"

She pursed her lips and looked up to where Marcus Flint was yelling at Julian Derrick to hurry up and try out the Beater drill next.

"I think so. He loves the game and he always put in 100 effort into every game."

Nodding, Severus reached over, took her quill and wrote Marcus Flint's name down next to the empty captain slot.

"I'll trust your judgement, Ms. Dayton."

Carling shot him a grin and then stood up to yell that she was finished watching the fumbling idiots who thought they had the stones to be Beaters and that she wanted to start the Keeper drills.

Before she had sat back down, the last Beater trying out was collecting stray bludgers by flying all over the pitch and smacking them towards their box. Carling and Severus both watched, impressed with his hitting accuracy and strength.

"You! What's your name again?" Carling screamed up.

The second year stopped, staring down at Carling with wide eyes as if hardly believing that a professional Quidditch player was speaking to him.

"Julian Derrick," he stammered.

"Good. You're going to be a Beater. Don't make me regret it!"

Taking out her quill again, she scrawled Julian's name next to one of the Beater slots.

XXXXXX

Tonks turned a page in her Advanced Charms textbook and tried to follow the immensely complicated theory stretching over five and a half pages. Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she glanced over to see Draco grinning at Miles Bletchley and saying something very animated to him. Miles looked around with wide eyes, clearly nervous and Tonks jerked her eyes back down, not letting on that she had caught sight of them. She strained to hear what they were saying but her dear little cousin was keeping his voice low as his gesturing grew wilder. Finally, Miles gave a big sigh and followed Draco into the boy's bathroom.

Tonks continued staring at her Charms text, waiting a few minutes. When she was sure they had started whatever they were getting up to, she tossed the textbook onto the couch and crept across the common room to the bathroom. Ravenia shot her a confused glance but then rolled her eyes and ignored her and Luther Warrington opened his mouth to probably ask why she was going towards the boy's bathroom, but Tonks held a finger to her lips and the second year fell silent.

She reached the bathroom and pulled out her wand, gently prodding the door open with a finger. It wasn't open enough for her to see through, but it was open enough for her to hear what was going on inside after she applied an eavesdropping charm on her ears.

She felt movement by her elbow and glanced up to see Terence Higgs standing beside her, grinning and mouthing 'Who are we spying on?' at her. She mouthed back that it was Draco and Miles and the fourth year grinned, gesturing at his own ears until Tonks sent the charm non-verbally at his own ear.

Together, they leaned closer, listening.

"—being unreasonable! Five chocolate frogs are all I've got!"

"It's not about the frogs, Draco! Professor Snape said you aren't allowed to use a wand until your parents say so."

"They do say so."

"Then why don't you have a wand?"

Tonks mentally congratulated the small first year for staying on his toes. She also frowned over Draco lying through his teeth to get what he wanted. It wasn't that he was lying that was bothering Tonks, it was the fact that he was doing it to another Slytherin and that the act would cause Miles to get in trouble too. That wasn't acceptable.

"Because I don't! Just let me use it for a few minutes! I just want to try a few simple spells."

"I don't think this is a good idea, Draco. Why don't you go ask Professor Snape if you can borrow it? If he says you can, then I'll let you have it for a few minutes."

Tonks could practically hear Draco scowling as he realized his plans were going down the toilet.

"Why are you being such a wuss?!" Draco's voice had risen and Tonks recognized the beginnings of a tantrum.

Rolling her eyes at Terence, she pushed open the bathroom door, stepping inside with Terence on her heels.

"That's enough, Draco! Watch your tone or its detention."

The nine year old glared at his cousin. "You can't tell me what to do! You aren't a prefect!"

"True. But I can go to the Professor and tell him that not only were you whining about something that you know you're not supposed to have, but you were bullying Miles and trying to get him into trouble."

Draco glared harder. "I just wanted to see it for a minute!"

"Then you should have gone to Professor Snape and asked him! He would have probably said yes. Sneaking around and getting other Slytherins in trouble for your own gains isn't on, Draco!"

"What the hell do you know, stupid mudblood?!"

The blood drained from Tonks' face and she stared at Draco, completely at a loss for words.

She'd been called a mudblood before, but never in such a way. Her friends used it to poke fun at her and the few real arguments she'd gotten into had only resulted in her opponent calling her that when they felt they had nothing else left to fight with. But this was different. Draco wasn't calling her a mudblood as a last resort or as a joke. He said the word as if it was meant to put her into place, a place obviously lower than his own.

Terence's eyes sparked and he stepped into the bathroom. "Draco! Apologize to Tonks!"

Draco sneered back. "Only if she lets me borrow Miles' wand."

Tonks stared at Draco for another second before she turned and left the bathroom. Terence started yelling at Draco, who looked confused and vaguely frightened by Tonks' behavior and started yelling back.

Miles saw his opportunity and raced out of the bathroom, across the common room and down the corridor to Severus' office.

He fell inside, nearly doing a face plant on the floor. Severus looked up from marking, alarmed and thinking that the castle was one fire. Barking at the boy to hurry up and say what was the matter, he only stayed to listen to the bare gist of it, already out the office door as soon as he heard that derogatory word cross Miles' lips.

He strode into the common room, Miles barely managing to squeeze through before he slammed it shut behind him.

"House meeting. Now!" he snarled. Everybody leapt up, racing upstairs or out of the common room to gather absent members and throwing themselves onto couches or the floor, nobody saying a word except the occasional muttering of 'budge over a bit'.

Terence had stopped yelling when Severus had stormed in and went to sit on the couch, putting an arm around Tonks, who sat on the end, pale and quiet, Lexina winding around her hand. Ravenia got up from where she sat next to Spencer and went to sit on the floor beside Tonks' legs and leaned against them.

Severus waited until his whole house had gathered, using the time to gather his thoughts. He spied Draco standing by the bathroom, trying to look haughty and failing miserably. It was clear that the nine year old was confused and frightened. Severus knew exactly how he felt.

He remembered that day in the library, waiting for Tara Gibbons to hurry up and get out of the library so he could read in peace. He'd lost his patience with the Ravenclaw and after she'd called him a freak, he'd retaliated with the first word that had sprung to his mind. He hadn't understood her devastated shock, nor Madame Pince's, just like Draco hadn't.

_"Did you call Ms. Gibbon a mudblood?"_

_"Of course I did. She might be stupid and a mudblood, but she's not a liar."_

His own head of house hadn't known how to deal with him, since Professor Bodin hadn't been raised with that vile word being used in an everyday vocabulary.

He glanced around at his students, noticing that quite a few of the older students also looked wary and confused. They too came from pure-blood families and had been raised with the word mudblood being taught to them the same way that they had been taught to identify cats as being cats.

He remembered the essays that the headmaster had given him; how easily the one of why calling someone a mudblood had sprung out of his quill, and how he had needed Evans' help to write the opposing one.

Remembering Evans, he straightened up, even more determined to address this issue properly. His students calling each other mudbloods was bad enough, but using a word that was derogatory towards his dead best friend wasn't something he would stand for.

When his house was finally assembled, he took a minute to look them over and then began.

"Since news travels rather quickly in this house, I will assume that most of you already know what transpired ten minutes ago. One of you called a half-blood in this house a mudblood. This is the only time you will ever hear me use that word and I promise you, it won't happen again. The situation leading up to the use of the word isn't of importance right now, but yes, Mr. Malfoy, that will be addressed privately between the two of us. I want to address the use of that word and why I will not tolerate it being used in my house."

Every one of his Slytherins were staring at him, some looking confused, others hopeful and some nodding with small smiles on their faces.

"Everybody has their own opinions about blood purity and what the consequences of it are. Some people believe being a pure-blood gives you greater magical ability, makes you physically stronger, makes you smarter. Others believe that the undesirable habit of inbreeding among pure-blood families has resulted in pure-blood beings in fact weaker, more susceptible to disease and ailments. Your parents have no doubt taught you to believe one view over the other. I will not stand here and tell you which to believe. I will simply ask you to use your heads and come to your own conclusions. I myself believed my parents' beliefs concerning muggle-borns and half-bloods until I started questioning and thinking about the issue myself and came to my own conclusions. You all have good heads on your shoulders and I have always taught you to carve your own paths. I didn't mean this only physically, I meant it intellectually. The only way false beliefs and untrue wisdoms are carried on through generations is through a lack of questioning, a lack of thought. If any of you pride your own intelligence, you will question everything that is presented as fact to you and will make up your own minds about whether you agree or not based on the evidence you gather. Does everybody understand?"

Slowly, everybody nodded, still staring at him.

"Good. Now, I have some evidence to present for you to mull over. I will not force conclusions down your throats, but I will give you something to think about. Mr. Creber, you have been in this house for six years. Do you believe the house has accomplished a great deal in recent years?"

Spencer nodded. "Yes, sir. We've won both Cups for four years in a row. I don't know a better way to judge if we're doing well."

"And do you believe the half-bloods and the muggle-borns have slowed the house's progress?"

Spencer looked confused. "No, sir. It was a team effort."

"Do you believe that we could have done better if we only had pure-bloods in the house?"

"I—I don't know how to answer that, sir."

"Why not?"

"Because it doesn't really matter what their parents are, it matters how smart they are, how hard they're willing to work, all sorts of things."

"Things that have nothing to do with their parentage?"

"Yes, sir."

Severus nodded and turned away from Spencer.

"Mr. Higgs?"

"Yes, sir?"

"What qualities would you say most define a Slytherin?"

"Being intelligent, for one, sir. And not just in studies, but all the time."

"What else?"

"Being ambitious. Cunning."

"Interesting. You never mentioned any sort of required parentage."

"Uhm, no, sir."

"Why?"

"I don't think it really matters, sir. We all live in the same house, do the same work, wear the same uniform. It doesn't really seem to matter what you are. I think it matters more what you do."

Severus nodded again and turned away from Terence to address the rest of his house.

"As I said, I will not stand here and force you to accept a certain view. Otherwise, I would be no better than those who have formed your first view. I want you all to think about what was said, and I want you to come to your own conclusions. However," and he made his voice take on a harder tone. "While I will not punish you for believing something, I will punish you for using that word to hurt anybody in this school, especially in your own house. Argue if you must, let your tempers flair if the occasion warrants it, but using that word is conduct that I will not tolerate from a Slytherin. Are we absolutely clear on this? There will be no second chances, no accepted pleas of lost tempers and loose tongues."

"Yes, sir." His house replied in unison.

"Good. You're dismissed. Mr. Malfoy, come with me."

He strode out of the common room, the students disbanding into little groups, whispering and gesturing. He walked into his office and waited until Draco had come in before shutting the door.

"Sit."

Draco sat.

"First off, I believe I was very, very firm about the wand situation. Bullying a fellow Slytherin to get what you want, especially something that you know I forbid is unacceptable."

Draco's eyes were glued to the floor. Severus slammed a hand onto his desk, causing Draco to jump.

"Are you a house elf? Eyes up and on me, Mr. Malfoy!"

Usually he avoided speaking about the elves in any demeaning way, but he knew that the comparison would bring the point home for Draco.

Draco straightened and looked at Severus, his eyes frightened but a stubbornness seeping into his jaw that Severus approved of.

"You are a Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy! We do not grovel with our eyes on the floor!"

"Yes, sir."

"I am giving you detention for your first offense. Nine minutes which you will serve out as soon as I am finished with you. Then you will find Mr. Bletchley and apologize and if I hear one more whine about wanting a wand or a whisper of rumor that you tried to touch anybody else's, I will send you back to the manor and not allow you to return until you are a first year."

Draco's eyes filled with fear at the thought of having to spend every single day with his father for the next year and a half and he nodded frantically. "Yes, sir. I won't ask to use, get or borrow anybody's wand. I promise."

"Good. Now. Tomorrow, you will spend the day serving detention in the potions classroom with me." He held up a hand to forestall any arguments. "You will be assisting me with various tasks, but mostly I want you to use the time to think."

Draco frowned. "About what you said in the common room, sir?"

"And what Mr. Higgs and Mr. Creber said. Both pure-bloods, as I'm sure you know."

Draco was still frowning. "But, sir, my father—"

"Your father has his own opinion. I have my own opinion. Ms. Tonks has hers, Mr. Creber has his. Everybody has their own opinion, Draco. Are you intending on living life the exact same way your father is? Copying his every move and thought?"

Draco nearly shuddered. "No, sir."

"Then why do you blindly adopt his beliefs as your own?"

Draco bit his lip and thought it over and then started trembling. "Sir—sir, if my father found out I questioned—"

Severus came around his desk and knelt before the boy. "Why would Lucius know that you have your own thoughts? Are you intending on telling him?"

Draco looked at him like he was nuts. "No! I'm no Gryff. That'd be suicide."

"Exactly. We're Slytherins, Draco. We know when to smile and nod to avoid a confrontation even if we disagree heartily with what somebody else is saying. If you know you'll lose and suffer for it, why throw yourself head first into it?"

Draco smiled slightly. "It's still kind of scary, sir. You know my father."

"Yes, I do. And so do you. You know what sets him off, you know what he wants you to say and do."

"Right. But even disagreeing with him in my head…"

"Do you agree with his disciplinary methods?"

Draco scoffed. "No, sir. It only scares me, it doesn't teach me anything. Most of the time I don't even know what he's upset about. It's a stupid way to teach somebody to change their ways."

"But does he know you disagree with him about this?"

"No!"

"Then why should this be any different? You are in control of your mind, Draco! Nobody else. You must say certain things and do certain things to avoid Lucius' wrath, but your mind is your own. Use it."

Draco stared at him for a long time. "You won't tell him if I come to a conclusion different from his?"

"Of course not, Draco! I too know what Lucius expects me to say and do. My mind is also my own."

He and Draco exchanged small smiles before Draco suddenly launched himself forward and into Severus' arms, clutching him around the neck. Severus nearly fell over as Draco clung to him.

He stayed frozen for a moment, unaccustomed to the gesture, but after a moment, he brought his arms up and gave Draco's back a stroke and a quick pat.

Draco released him, grinning at him. "I'm sort of looking forward to my detention tomorrow, sir. I've never really thought about things on my own before."

"In that case, there will be lots to keep you busy. Good thing I have lots of things for your hands to do to keep you occupy them while your mind churns."

Draco rolled his eyes and settled back on his chair. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he sat up straight. "Can I start my nine minutes now, sir? I still have to apologize to Miles and I wanted to play a game of monopoly with him before bed."

Pulling himself up from the floor, Severus sat back down behind his desk and looked at the clock. "Alright. Nine minutes start….now."

Draco folded his hands in his lap and stared at the various preserved creatures on the shelves, patiently waiting for his nine minutes to pass.

Severus picked up his quill and resumed marking, trying to be impressed with Cedric Diggory's ramblings on why adding porcupine quills to a boil cure potion before removing it from the fire was a 'bad, bad thing'.

XXXXXX

Ducking through the gate of the cemetery, he did a quick scan of the area, making sure he was alone. The wonderful thing about being off probation was the fact that he could come here once it was dark and not have to worry about any busy-bodies staring at him.

He had put his Slytherins to bed, waited around to do the first bed check and then told the Baron and his elf to keep an eye on his house while he apparated to Godric's Hollow.

He hurried to the grave he knew so well, dodging around others and only having eyes for the one that mattered.

Reaching it, he crouched down, gently running fingers over the letters carved into the tombstone, spelling out her name.

"Hey. I know I'm nearly late, but I made it before midnight, so technically, you can't be upset." He had left the school at 11:42 so he knew it was still January 30th.

"Harry Birthday, Evans. Today's a big one you realize. You're thirty. Big three zero. I've never appreciated my youth as much as I do tonight. I know I'm only a year younger, but right now, we don't have a single number in common in our ages. You're ancient now," he whispered, smiling sadly at the tombstone.

He set down the bundle of wildflowers he always brought, brushing the snow off the dirt covering the grave and gently placed them in the bare spot.

Gathering his cloak about himself, he sat down on the ground, staring at the grave where his best friend had lain silently for nearly nine years.

Nine years.

"I can't believe you've been gone for nearly nine years, Evans. It still seems like yesterday."

_"You be strong and smart, alright?"_

_"You too."_

_"And be safe."_

_"That goes double for you."_

"It's still weird walking around some parts of the school without you. I'm finally alright with being in the kitchen, but being in the forest is still strange."

_"I'm the loner. I'm—I'm Snivellus."_

_"You've never been Snivellus to me and I resent that stupid name. You've always been Severus to me."_

"And I avoid the Gryff tower at all costs. I went by it the other day. Well, not right by it. I was going up the stairs and they started turning towards the Fat Lady's portrait. For a second I actually thought, oh, good, I need to get you anyway so we could finish our Defense papers and then go sit in the kitchen and drink hot chocolate. Then I remembered you wouldn't be in that common room if I knocked on the door and everybody would just stare at me. The head of Slytherin going to the Gryff towers asking about a dead Gryff. They would have had a good laugh. The Fat Lady saw me before I made the stairs stop. She actually looked kind of sad. I don't really get why." He sighed and sniffed hard, wiping the tears off his cheek.

_"Oh, look at that cloud, Sev! It looks just like a unicorn! And that one beside it looks like a tea pot."_

_"I'm not seeing any bloody tea pot, Evans. I see something that looks more like a cat."_

"It's not like she lost her best friend. Her friends are all stuck on a wall in a damn painting with enough charms to make sure they can't be burnt up or shot to pieces."

_"What do you want, Evans? I'm in the middle of reading something."_

_"You're always in the middle of reading something. Now, help me up there. I've never seen the library from up there before."_

"I miss you so much. I hate opening my presents on Christmas morning without you, I hate celebrating Myrtle's deathday without you and I hate walking around the forest and having Elixa coming up to me, always wondering when you're coming back. You'd think it would get easier after a few years, but it really doesn't. I know I've got my Slytherins, and Gorgon, and the headmaster, and Fawkes and Myrtle and Xira and the other elves, and even Professor McGongall and Flitwick, but it's not the same. I just wish things would have turned out differently. I don't know how, but this is too damn hard on some days. I miss you too damn much."

The lump in his throat finally got too painful and he let the sobs overwhelm him, tears streaming down his face. It took several long minutes until he had gotten a hold of himself again. Wiping his face off, he took a deep breath.

"Well, that's making your birthday really cheerful, isn't it? Alright, I'll do my duties as your best friend and change the subject to something cheerier."

So he told her everything that had happened at the school since he had last visited her shortly after school had started. He told her what Carling and Leland had written in their letters, how Cameron's efforts at stopping the mysterious money disappearances were going, what Tonks had worked on during training and who had lost how many points and for what. He told her about Draco's use of that vile word that he hadn't even known was a terrible thing to say until the woman beside who's grave he was sitting had hammered the point home by just being who she was. He lamented over the fact that two more Weasleys—twins this time!—had been sorted into Gryffindor, really testing his belief that the flow of redheads had to logically have an end somewhere, and what gossip he had picked up from his elf, Gabby and Myrtle about the other houses.

When he was finished, he felt lighter. Free. He always did after coming here and telling her everything that he would have told her if she would still be alive.

He knew in a way it was ridiculous, spending hours talking to a grave, but he allowed a small part of him to believe that she could hear him and liked the time he was spending with her as much as he did. And he didn't care if the Baron thought it was a Gryff thing to do. Not everything about that house was idiotic. Evans herself was proof of that.

Taking another deep breath and feeling better than he had all day, he pushed himself up. "Alright. I'm off to get back to school. A bunch of us are going to have a drink of hot chocolate to celebrate your birthday. I realize it's probably the day after your birthday by now, but it's better late than never, right? I hear Mixie made a small cake even, seeing how it's your thirtieth. I'll do my duty as your best friend and eat a piece for you, alright? You better appreciate the hardships I go through for you. I can't believe the things I'm willing to do for a Gryff."

Brushing off his cloak, he smiled and leaned over, kissing his hand and pressing his hand to the tombstone.

"I'll be back soon, Evans."

_"I'll be back soon, Sev."_

He gave the tombstone a faint smile. "And unlike certain Gryffs around here, I keep my promises. Happy Birthday."

XXXXXX

Marcus heard the sobbing from down the corridor, even though Terence was talking his ear off. He grabbed Terence by the arm and frowned. The crying had stopped as soon as the person had heard their voices, but Marcus knew that they couldn't hold their breath forever.

"Listen!"

"—so then I told him to—what?"

"Shut up! Listen! Someone's crying."

Both fourth years stopped and listened. Sure enough, the sound of faint sniffling carried down the corridor. There were lots of alcoves along the walls, most of them being dark enough to allow someone to cram into them without being seen by anybody walking by. Not only were they preferred snogging spots, but they were the perfect place to have a good cry and not be disturbed. Unless you were crying too loudly.

They continued down the corridor, peering into the alcoves until they reached the one they were looking for.

Adrian Pucey, a tiny, quiet first year was curled up in the corner. If he hadn't been sniffling, he would have been virtually undetectable.

He gasped when he saw the older boys staring at him and quickly wiped the tears off his cheeks.

"What're you doing in here, Pucey?" Marcus demanded.

"Nothing," Adrian muttered, his gaze wavering between the floor and them.

"You're hiding and crying. Are either of these going to solve your problem, whatever it is?" Terence demanded, just as harshly. "Did the sorting hat really say Hufflepuff and you just wandered down here by mistake?"

That got a reaction out of him. Adrian glared and he stopped sniffling. "No. I'm a Slytherin."

"You sure aren't acting like it. Come on. Get up and say what's wrong and we'll help fix it."

Marcus leaned over and yanked the smaller boy to his feet. Setting him down, the two older boys stared at him expectantly. Adrian pressed his lips together and shuffled his feet before blurting out what was bothering him.

"The Gryffs and Puffs were picking on me."

Marcus and Terence exchanged a glance. It was a common occurrence for the other three houses—mostly the Puffs and Gryffs—to be picking on the younger Slytherins. They weren't stupid enough to want to pick on an older Slytherin—they knew they'd get hexed into next week.

"What were they doing?"

"They tripped me with a jinx on my way to history. I fell over and while I was going for my wand, they expelliarmused it away from me. Then they pulled me into the bathroom and stuffed my bag with all my things into the toilet and some of the boys pissed on them."

Terence grimaced. "What did you do with the things?"

"I pulled them out and tried to wash them, but they still smell really bad so I left them there. I don't know any cleaning charms."

"Alright, first thing's first. Which bathroom?"

"Third floor. Beside Professor Burbage's office."

"Right. Follow us."

Without another word, Marcus and Terence went up to the bathroom and pulled out the soaking wet, urine smelling bag. Terence almost gagged from the smell and both he and Marcus went to work cleaning and drying all of Adrian's books and supplies. Then they packed them into his bag and tossed it to him.

"Thank you."

Marcus gave him a hard look. "Would you have gotten your bag back if you'd have stayed in a corner crying like a sissy?"

Adrian looked sheepish. "No."

"Exactly. Slytherins don't take anything lying down. We fix ourselves and then we fix the situation."

Adrian nodded. "I get that now. Thanks. It won't happen again."

"Next time this happens, you'll come straight to your housemates, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Marcus turned and exchanged a grin with Terence. "Now that we've fixed you, it's time to fix the situation."

Adrian looked confused. "Didn't we just do that?"

Terence's grin grew wider. "Oh, no." Both boys went and put their arms around Adrian, bringing him out of the bathroom and back towards the dungeons. "You see, like Tonks always says; when Slytherins are hit, we hit back—"

"—and we hit back hard." Marcus finished for him with a hard smile.


	21. Chapter 21

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 21

A/N: Thank you, thank you for the awesome reviews! You guys make writing such a joy! Please note that this chapter resumes right where the previous chapter left off. Lots of Slytherin trickiness in this chapter! Enjoy!

Lettuce – I'm very sorry, but Bella won't be a major part of the story for a while. Once Voldemort comes back and she breaks out of Azkaban, she'll be up to her usual antics. And she will have a major part to play towards the end (in this story anyway).

'The loyal heart has hidden treasures in secrets kept and in silence sealed.'

- _Andromeda_, 'The Shards of Rimni'

XXXXXX

When they'd reached the common room, Marcus called together all the Slytherins who were lazing around on the couches. Tonks squeezed onto the couch between Spencer and Miles Bletchley. Luther Warrington and first year Josh Montague also drifted over.

Once they had gathered around, Terence told Adrian to explain the situation. Once he had, they all exchanged long, hard looks.

"This one is serious," Spencer muttered.

Tonks nodded. "They stepped over a line with this one. This doesn't only call for a response."

"This calls for a full out attack."

"Exactly."

Spencer looked around. "Alright. We've determined that Adrian doesn't know exactly which Puffs and which Gryffs were there, but we know the Claws weren't a part of it. Since this was serious, I say our response can't be anything other than full scale."

Tonks looked at him. "Both houses?"

"Yup."

"Everybody?"

"Has to be."

Terence nodded. "It's the only way to send a definite message."

Miles frowned. "But won't that affect some Puffs and Gryffs that don't have anything to do with it?"

Marcus gave him a hard look. "They all hate Slytherins, and you can bet that they're all laughing about what happened right now, so they all deserve it."

They all nodded, knowing it was true.

Tonks leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees. "Alright. We need ideas, people."

They started throwing ideas back and forth, various pranks being thought up and quickly rejected. They needed something big. Something that would affect two entire houses and make them think twice before humiliating another Slytherin.

Finally, Luther snapped a finger. "I've got it! What about making them all sick? Not seriously, but sick enough to be miserable for a day or so."

Spencer frowned, latching onto the idea. "It would have to be an illness that's more embarrassing than dangerous, though. The last thing we want is for everybody to start feeling sorry for them."

Tonks suddenly grinned. "I know! Gut Cleansing potion!"

Everybody stopped and stared at Tonks, before wide grins spread over their faces. Gut Cleansing potion was given to kids who had eaten something they shouldn't have or to adults who needed to cleanse their systems before ingesting a specific medicine or potion. Just a small drop of it was enough to cause your digestive system to start violently emptying itself, shoving things out of whatever opening was closest. Its effects were known to be horrible and embarrassing, even if temporary and not fatal.

"Brilliant!"

"That's awesome, Tonks!"

"Oh, that's good. That's evil, but damn, that's good!"

After basking in her brilliance for a moment, Tonks held up a hand. "Alright, everybody! Focus! If we're going to pull this off, we're going to have to put a lot of thought into it. We're going to have to make the potion without the Professor finding out, we're going to have to find a way for everybody to ingest some without them knowing, and of course, we'll have to frame someone. Any ideas?"

Planning when to brew the potion was easiest. Figuring out how to apply it was more difficult, but after some devious scheming, they had a rudimentary plan ready. But framing someone was proving difficult.

"For the millionth time, Higgs, we can't frame the Claws! Everybody knows they stay out of these things for the most part. Nobody would seriously suspect them."

"In fact," Marcus piped up. "They'd probably reject the thought that it was the Claws and immediately start pointing fingers at us."

Suddenly, a small voice spoke up from behind the couch. "What about framing either the Puffs or the Gryffs for it?"

They all turned to stare at Draco, who was leaning over the back of the couch, staring at them eagerly, a wide smile on his face.

Tonks gave him a curious frown and jerked her chin. "Get over here and explain, little cousin."

Ever since their fight in their bathroom, Draco had been avoiding her for the most part. Tonks had been angry with him for about a day, until she realized that Draco hadn't known any better and would probably think twice before calling a fellow Slytherin a mudblood again. Overall, she had always liked her little cousin. She had heard muttered horror stories from Leland and Carling over how he had behaved when he had first come to stay at the school, but his behaviour had improved over the years. She didn't go out of her way to spend time with him, but the little Malfoy had grown on her and she had always been sad about the fact that none of her extended family wanted anything to do with her. She didn't know how much of their family's history Draco knew, asides from the fact that they were related, but he had made an effort to be more respectful towards her in recent days, even if he wasn't outright friendly to her.

Draco hurried around the couch and sat down in the small space Tonks made between herself and Spencer, grinning ear to ear.

"Adrian said that the Gryffs were a lot worse than the Puffs, and it was the Gryffs who thought up the pissing thing in the first place, right? So the ones we really, really want to get are the Gryffs. So if we only get the Gryffs sick—"

"—then we can frame the Puffs," Spencer finished, grinning at him.

"And best of all, the Puffs won't want to point a finger back at us because then they'd have to say why we'd want to frame them. So they'll either get in trouble for something they didn't do or something they did. Either way, they pay."

"And no matter what happens, the Gryffs end up paying."

They all grinned at each other before Spencer reached over and slapped Draco on the back. "Well done, Draco! That's how's it's done, kid."

"As a reward can I help carry out the plan?" Draco asked, holding his breath.

Spencer and Tonks exchanged a glance. Since they were the oldest in the bunch, they got final word over participants. Tonks shrugged. "He's already thinking like a Slyth. Time for him to start proving he can act like one too."

Spencer nodded. "Alright. Draco, you're in." He turned and gave the nine year old a hard look. "But you have to promise to obey Tonks and myself at all times and not to say a word about this to anybody. We can pull in more Slytherins if we need them, but the Professor can't find out. We can't get him into trouble."

Draco nodded eagerly. "I promise. I swear, I promise."

Tonks piped up from beside him. "Promise on Salazar Slytherin's soul, Draco."

Everybody sucked in a breath. That was the most binding promise possible in their house—next to an Unbreakable vow, of course.

Draco didn't even hesitate before jumping up and running over to the mantle, above which their house emblem stood. Reaching up, he touched the snake's head in the picture and murmured "I promise on Salazar Slytherin's soul not to tell anybody."

Satisfied, Tonks nodded for him to get back to the couch and they resumed planning.

XXXXXX

"Professor Snape? Sir?"

Severus paused and waited for Ravenia to catch up to him as the rest of the house swept past them, chattering and laughing on their way to the duelling chamber.

"Yes, Ms. Bellamy?"

"Could I skip on duelling practice today, sir? I really want to practice the antidote identification we were doing during potions today. I don't feel I have the hang of it."

It wasn't uncommon for the sixth and seventh years to ask permission to skip out on the practical part of tutorial if they had theoretical things or potions to work on. As long as they worked hard on their wand work and showed the results Severus expected of them, he let them skip out.

Severus nodded. "Certainly. Take a partner along and I expect to see a perfect performance of the procedure on Wednesday in class. My elf will supervise."

She grinned. "Yes, sir."

Turning around, she ran off, grabbing Spencer's arm. "Come on! He said yes."

They hurried into the potions classroom and shut the door behind them.

Immediately, they hurried to the front where Gorgon already sat on Severus' desk.

"Good evening, Gorgy," Ravenia said, smiling at the old elf, who nodded back.

"Good evening Miss Ravenia, Master Spencer. What we working on today?"

Spencer and Ravenia exchanged a long glance. "Well, we told the Professor we needed to work on the antidote identification we spent last class on."

Gorgon nodded. "Golpalott's Third Law?"

"Yeah." The two sixth years exchanged another long look before turning to the elf.

"But we really need to work on something else."

Gorgon looked between the two of them until he finally gave them a sly grin. "Something else which you not telling Professor Severus?"

They nodded. Gorgon frowned, looking disapproving so they hurried to explain.

"We're trying to get back at the Gryffs and the Puffs for hurting Adrian. They really humiliated him this time and we want to get them back good. But we don't want Professor Snape getting into trouble for it."

Gorgon narrowed his eyes at them. "Miss Ravenia and Master Spencer not want to cause Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs pain?"

"No. Not physical pain at least."

"And not put into danger? Real danger?"

"No."

"What potion?"

"Gut Cleansing Potion."

Gorgon immediately lost his disapproving look and nodded. "Ah! That good one. Very good one. But just give little drop to each, right? Not more. Could make seriously ill."

They both nodded frantically. "We know. We'd be really careful."

Gorgon gave them both a hard look before clapping his hands and jumping off the desk. "Alright. We have two hours to make batch of Gut Cleansing Potion and perfect sample of antidote. Miss Ravenia, please be putting cauldrons on fire and adding water. Master Spencer and Gorgy go to get ingredients."

"Won't the Professor notice the missing ingredients?"

Gorgon shot Spencer a grin. "You leaving that up to Gorgy, Master Spencer. Gorgy knowing same suppliers as Professor Severus."

XXXXXX

Tonks peered around the corner, Draco pushing aside her robe to also look. Marcus and Evan Bole were by the other corner. Tonks waited until Madame Pomfrey stepped out of the infirmary.

Then she gave the two other boys and Draco a firm nod and stepped out from behind the corner, immediately letting loose a wail and collapsing onto the ground, sobbing loudly.

Evan hurried to her. "Tonks! It's alright!"

Marcus sighed loudly, looking worried. "Oh, not _again_! Tonks!" He crouched down beside Tonks, patting her back.

Madame Pomfrey hurried up to them and knelt down. "What on earth is the matter? Ms. Tonks! Are you ill?"

None of them even saw the tiny nine year old sneaking down the corridor and ducking into the infirmary.

Evan sighed heavily and gave Tonks a sad look. "She's scared stiff over her exams."

"She's convinced she'll fail all of them," Marcus whispered to the nurse, still patting Tonks on the back.

Tonks let out a sob and looked up at Madame Pomfrey, tears streaming down her face. "I know I will! All the work I've put in won't matter! I'll fail everything because I'm stupid and I can't do a lick of magic right!" With a wail, she buried her face in her arms again.

"There, there, Nymphadora. Calm down, dear. Did you do badly on an assignment?"

Evan and Marcus both shrugged and Tonks looked up. "It's not just one assignment, Madame Pomfrey, it's all of them! All of them!" she sobbed.

The three of them continued trying to console her as Tonks wailed and sobbed. Finally Madame Pomfrey pushed herself off the floor. "Let me get you some Calming Draught, Nymphadora."

Evan's eyes widened and Marcus shouted "No!". Madame Pomfrey froze and stared at the two boys. "Why on earth not, Mr. Flint?"

"Because Professor Snape already gave her some and said she shouldn't drink any more," he blurted out.

Madame Pomfrey frowned but when Tonks let out another wail and started pounding the floor beneath her, she glanced at Evan. "Alright then. Go and fetch Professor Snape at once."

Evan stood frozen for a moment before Marcus gave him a hard look and shoved him. "Hurry up!"

Evan had no choice but to hurry down to the dungeons. He stuck his head into Severus' office and blurted out that Tonks needed him upstairs. Severus frowned but immediately followed the second year upstairs. Along the way, all he could get out of Evan was that Tonks was having a panic attack about her upcoming NEWTs.

They reached the little group and Severus strode up to Tonks. "Ms. Tonks, what is the meaning of these theatrics? I told you your latest paper was f—"

With another wail, Tonks picked herself up and threw herself at her head of house. "I'm going to fail, Professor! I just know it!"

Severus awkwardly patted Tonks back as she sobbed into his robes. He stared at Marcus and Evan, who both looked at Tonks with pity. There was something fishy going on here. Tonks hadn't expressed the slightest hint of being worried about her exams, mostly because she was prepared enough not to have to be concerned. She knew she'd pass and so did Severus. Besides, Tonks wasn't normally a girl prone to hysterics.

She was putting on one hell of an act, but it was the why that was still eluding Severus.

Madame Pomfrey was rubbing Tonks back. "How much Calming Drought did you already give her, Professor?"

Severus blinked once. "A gobletful today and two yesterday."

Pomfrey nodded. "Then Marcus was right. She really shouldn't have anymore."

Severus nodded with the nurse. "I agree."

He might not know why his Slytherins were putting on such a performance, but he'd be damned if he spoiled it before finding out the benefits to helping.

Evan was spending more time staring down the corridor than at Tonks and Severus was about to casually follow his gaze to see what he was staring at, when the second year suddenly turned to Tonks.

"You'll be alright now, won't you?"

Tonks had calmed her wailing and sobbing and was just sniffling, still keeping her face buried in her head of house's robes. Probably to hide a growing smirk, Severus thought.

The minute she heard the words, Severus could feel her relaxing, although she kept sniffling. Pushing herself off Severus, she straightened his robes.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I don't know what came over me. I'm just really stressed."

"Completely understandable, Ms. Tonks. Let's go back down and I want you to take the rest of the day off. Read the Quibbler, play some checkers, listen to music, whatever you like. Relaxing activities only, understood?"

"Yes, sir." Tonks finished wiping the tears off her face and straightened.

Turning back to Madame Pomfrey, Severus thanked her for her assistance and then swept towards the dungeons, his three Slytherins following him.

Once they had come down the stairs and were standing before his office, he spun around and glared down at the three of them.

"I don't know what the hell is going on here and I want to know. Right now."

Evan's face fell and Marcus and Tonks were carefully staring at a point over his left shoulder.

"Well?" he demanded. "I just lied through my teeth to help keep your little charade going and I would like to know whether it was really necessary."

"Absolutely, sir," Tonks said, nodding firmly. "It was absolutely necessary."

"That doesn't answer my question, Ms. Tonks!"

They exchanged quick glances and when Marcus Flint opened his mouth and started spewing out an obviously well rehearsed story about wanting to distract the nurse while Josh Montague snuck into the infirmary to look for the nurse's hidden sweet stash, Severus debated doing something he hadn't done in years.

He had no idea what his Slytherins were up to, but whatever this was, it was serious. Their normal little schemes usually didn't necessitate him lying to his colleagues or having his Slytherins lie to him.

Knowing it was a bit wrong but seriously concerned with the level of danger his Slytherins might be putting themselves into, he send a non-verbal "Legilimens!" at Marcus, who was staring at him with wide eyes while still explaining.

Marcus' words faded away and he was careful not to allow himself to be yanked into his thoughts too quickly, not wanting to get lost in the swirling mass of color and light. Keeping himself back and just skimming the surface of Marcus' mind, he could easily see the thoughts that Marcus was busy thinking about at the very moment.

Adrian Pucey crying in an alcove. Evan, Marcus, Tonks (looking far from hysterical) and Draco hiding around a corner and watching Madame Pomfrey step out of the infirmary. A group of his Slytherins sitting on the couches, talking with wide gestures and serious expressions. Marcus and Terence waving their wands over somebody's bag and books, a sullen faced Adrian standing behind them.

Pulling back, Severus left his student's head just in time to hear him stammer to a halt with his half baked story.

Even though he had seen the thoughts out of order, he thought he understood the bare gist of it now. Somebody had hurt Adrian Pucey and his house had taken it upon themselves to strike back.

Severus stared at all three of them. "Mr. Flint, everything that just came out of your mouth was a lie. Not only was it badly put together, but the delivery was absolutely appalling. Now, I don't know what you're all up to, but I trust that you won't get anybody seriously hurt."

They all immediately shook their heads. "No, sir."

"And none of you will be seriously hurt carrying out whatever this is?"

"No, sir."

"And you aren't forcing anybody to participate who doesn't want any part in it?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Now, I covered for you this once, but I loathe lying to my own colleagues. Do not put me in a position to have to do it again."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, if you ever lie to me again, Mr. Flint, you will severely regret it. As it is, I am giving you detention, not just for the lie but also for the bad performance behind it. You will start your four days tomorrow night."

"Yes, sir."

"As I said, I don't know what you're up to, but you are all old enough to use your heads without my help. Ms. Tonks, any serious repercussions from this will be on the older students heads, including yourself."

"Of course, sir."

"Good. Be smart, and be safe. That's all I ask. You're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," they chorused before shooting him grins and disappearing down the corridor.

Severus was left staring after them, wondering if he should bother trying to dig further into this or if he should just leave them to it.

"We should be letting them learn through own attempts, young master. They promise not to hurt anyone seriously, no?"

Severus glanced down to see his elf looking up at him. Severus frowned. "You know something, don't you? Otherwise you wouldn't so easily let them do this without tailing them."

Gorgon shot him a mostly toothless grin. "Gorgy maybe knowing a little bit. Tiny bit. Tiny, tiny bit."

Severus sighed. "Are they going to get hurt?"

"No. Get in trouble, maybe. Not if they pull off properly. But hurt, no."

Grumbling, Severus turned back to his office, knowing he had some marking to finish. "This is what we get for agreeing to raise a bunch of snakes, Gorgon."

Gorgon chuckled. "And we wouldn't be wanting to be anywhere else, no?"

"Absolutely not."

XXXXXX

Adrian waited around the corner, listening to the sounds of dishes clattering and elves chattering in the kitchen which dimly carried out through the fruit bowl portrait on the wall. According to their careful timing and scheduling, the breakfast food should already be on the four house tables in the kitchen, ready to be sent up to the Great Hall at any moment where hundreds of hungry students waited for breakfast to be served.

Glancing behind him at his fellow Slytherins, he gave a firm nod. "Ready."

He still couldn't believe that he was being allowed to carry out one of the most important tasks of the plan. He was a first year, and usually, first years weren't permitted to participate in any pranks or retaliations, but Tonks had said that he had behaved himself well enough and that this was his revenge anyway, so he deserved to carry out the final part as long as he swore to stick to the plan.

Spencer, Ravenia, Miles, Josh Montague and Julian Derrick all nodded back, Julian and Spencer still wearing their Quidditch robes and all of them having sprinted over after practice. Together, they all stepped around the corner.

Immediately, Ravenia and Spencer started screaming at each other, calling each other names and insulting the other.

Miles tried to help, yelling at Spencer not to call Ravenia names, at which Josh jumped in, yelling at Miles to shut up and mind his own business, which prompted Julian to yell that it wasn't Josh's business either.

Adrian sprinted past the screaming Slytherins and banged on the portrait. It was flung open and the delicious smells of hot porridge and tea drifted out. Gabby grinned at Adrian before she heard the yelling and gaped at the five screaming Slytherins, pointing fingers and wands in each other's faces.

"Help, please! I don't know how to stop them! They'll be hexing each other soon!"

Gabby turned and yelled over her shoulder for the others to come help her and she leapt out of the portrait hole.

Other elves hurried past Adrian, jumping out and hurrying to the Slytherins, trying to calm them and get between the red faced, furious combatants.

While the other elves had leapt out, Adrian casually hopped into the kitchen. He wandered around for a few seconds, trying to appear as a casual gawker and nothing more.

Not every elf had come to assist, but as the screaming continued and even some of the elves started yelling at each other over how to properly get control of the situation, the rest of the elves in the kitchen had moved to crowd the portrait hole for a better look.

Casually glancing around, Adrian noted that none of the elves were paying any attention to him. Moving to the table that was set up to send food up to the Gryff table above it, he leaned over and pulled out the small bottle from his pocket. Pretending to be sticking a finger into the porridge bowl, he dropped a few drops into the first pitcher of pumpkin juice. That done, he moved further down and filled the next pitcher, and then the large tea pots and jugs of milk as well. When every drink was properly contaminated, he slipped the bottle back into his pocket and wandered back to the portrait hole, holding a hot cake he had nicked.

Some of the elves gave a start to see him standing behind him, but he gave them a sheepish grin and held up the hot cake. "Listening to them made me hungry."

He hopped out of the portrait hole and waded into the mass of screaming Slytherins and elves.

Screaming at them that they'd miss breakfast if they didn't shut up and get upstairs, he wandered up the nearest staircase.

His fellow Slytherins slowly calmed down, making a big show of straightened robes and shoving wands back into pockets, sending glares at each other and breathing hard. Together, they went up to breakfast, grumbling and snarking at each other until they were well out of earshot from the elves.

Staying calm and not daring to give away their plan so close to completion, they joined the stream of students going into the Great Hall, took their places at their table and waited for breakfast to start.


	22. Chapter 22

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 22

A/N: And now, may I present: The Greatest Slytherin Prank of the Century! Enjoy!

'Walk without footprints, breathe without breath. Our lives leave no trace.'

- _Andromeda_, 'The Leper's Kiss'

Tonks frowned when she saw Miles staring at the Gryff table, his eyes wide with anticipation and porridge dripping onto the table from the spoon he was forgetting to stick into his mouth.

Reaching over, she grabbed a bread roll and threw it at Miles, hitting him in the head. He reeled back and glared around, but when he caught sight of Tonks' hard look, he forced his eyes down to his bowl.

Tonks hadn't been the only one to notice Miles' staring. Severus had been keeping a casual eye on his Slytherins, waiting for whatever they were planning to begin. Seeing their casual behaviour at breakfast that day had nearly been enough to set him at ease, if he hadn't noticed some of the younger students trying too hard to seem casual. Miles Bletchley's inability to quit staring at the Gryff table and the smile that Adrian Pucey was trying to cover by frantically shoving eggs into his mouth both gave them away.

Severus continued eating, letting his eyes roam and settle for a fraction of a second longer than necessary on the Gryff table. He frowned when he saw some of them frowning, slowly putting down their utensils and others holding their stomachs.

Two minutes later, three Gryffs leapt up from the table and raced out of the Great Hall, holding their stomachs and covering their mouths. They were quickly followed by five more. Then ten more.

At this point, everybody else started noticing that something was wrong with the Gryffindors.

Professor McGonagall muttered a "Well, I never!" and got up to sweep to her table, hissing at them to stay in their seats until the food was cleared and were they raised in a barn?

She scoffed at the reports that all of them were feeling really, really sick. She changed her mind quickly when a third year promptly threw up all over the table. That started a chain reaction and soon enough, some other Professors converged on the table, cleaning up the mess and herding the students out. The headmaster also got up and started calling on prefects from other houses to help get the ill students to the nearest bathrooms and to help evanesco the corridors as they went.

Madame Pomfrey was speaking to Minerva, and they both turned to stare up at him. Putting his utensils down, Severus made his way over to them, putting on a small frown of concern.

"What in the world is wrong with your Gryffs, Professor McGonagall? The porridge might be tasteless on some days, but this is a bit extreme."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "This isn't the porridge and you know it. Everybody is eating the same food and none of the other three houses are sick. And this isn't a normal digestive problem, Severus! Not if hundreds of students are ill at the same time!"

Severus knew he had to provide some sort of help if he would be successful in diverting the blame from his own house.

Moving past Minerva, he glanced up at the down the table, studying the food and drinks.

"Well, it's not the porridge."

"And how do we know that?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Because not everybody ate it."

"None of them had something that everybody did, Severus!"

Severus studied the table again. "They all drank something, didn't they?"

"Not the same thing!"

"Why would only one type of drink have been contaminated? If somebody wanted to get your whole house, wouldn't it make sense to contaminate as many drink types as possible?"

Minerva grabbed the nearest pitcher of juice and sniffed it. Immediately, she frowned.

"This juice has something in it. I can't tell—" she shoved it under his nose. Severus took one whiff and immediately knew. "Gut Cleansing Potion."

Minerva clenched her jaw.

Severus took the jug from her and swept his wand over the table, Vanishing all of the food on it. "It's not poisonous, Professor McGonagall, you know that. They'll be fine in about a day."

"I can't have my entire house lining up for the bathroom for an entire day! They have classes and others need to use the bathrooms too!"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Then get Madame Pomfrey to fetch the antidote. She has a few doses up in her office I believe."

Hearing that, Poppy turned and sprinted out of the hall and disappeared around the corner, presumably to fetch the bottles from the infirmary.

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Have antidotes for it?"

He rolled his eyes again. "Professor McGonagall, I keep antidotes for dangerous, fatal poisons and for things that can prove fatal if overdosed on. I can't have ready antidotes for every single potion in the world!"

"So you don't have any?"

"No. And it takes about three days to properly mature so even if I started now, your Gryffs would be fine long before it was finished."

Turning away from her, he sent a swift glare around the rest of the hall. To their credit, his Slytherins didn't look smug, they only looked mildly curious like the other two houses. Well, Adrian Pucey was struggling to hold in his laughter, but Luther Warrington's constant stomping on his foot prevented him from releasing it.

He raised his voice and dismissed the students, telling them that classes would begin fifteen minutes later than usual.

The students had no sooner started pushing back the benches and starting for the doors when Madame Pomfrey pushed her way back in, looking panicked.

"Minerva! Minerva! I don't know what happened but they're gone!"

"What's gone?"

"The antidote! I know for a fact I had at least three bottles in the infirmary yesterday and they're gone!"

Minerva looked on the verge of yelling at the woman for misplacing things, but then thought better of it.

Looking around the hall, she quickly gestured Severus, Flitwick and Sprout over.

"I don't know which house is behind this, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

All three of them nodded.

"I want you all to search your common rooms top to bottom for those bottles."

"Do you really believe students would leave them in their common rooms?"

"They might not have had time to get rid of them yet. Even if they poured it down the drain, they might have kept the bottles to gloat later."

Severus wanted to point out that leaving such obvious evidence behind would be an offence he would string any Slytheirn up by their toes for, but then thought better of it. After all, he knew for a fact that those bottles wouldn't show up in his common room. The other two heads were nodding and disappeared. Severus slowly made his way to his own common room, where his own students were milling around.

They all looked politely curious and casual but the first year boy's dormitory was shut and Adrian Pucey was nowhere in sight. Severus hoped he could contain himself before it was time for classes to start.

"I want everybody to go into their rooms and open up their belongings. I was instructed to look for the missing bottles."

The Slytherins stared at him incredulously. Miles Bletchley looked the most puzzled. "But sir, even if it had been us, we wouldn't have kept—"

"Mr. Bletchley, do as you're told. It's not our business to question the deputy headmistress' commands."

Smothering grins, his Slytherins all sprinted upstairs and dutifully opened up their trunks. Severus swept from room to room, glancing over belongings and nodding with satisfaction.

Once he had finished 'searching' his common room, he asked them to please keep an eye out for the bottles. They all nodded firmly, struggling to suppress grins and a "Certainly, sir" followed him as he went back upstairs.

He nearly ran over Professor Flitwick, who was sprinting down the corridor from the direction of the Ravenclaw tower. The tiny man skid to a halt and stared up at Severus.

"Oh, Severus! Did you hear? It's awful! It was the Hufflepuffs apparently!"

Severus raised a half interested eyebrow. "The Puffs? Really? How do we know?"

Filius gestured for him to get closer and lean down. "Pomona just found some of them throwing the empty bottles out of the window opposite their portrait hole. She said she went into the bathrooms in their common room and could smell the antidote in the sinks!"

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. Apparently, the Gryffs hadn't been the only targets in his snakes' quest for vengeance.

Sniffing delicately, Severus straightened up. "Well, I for one never thought the Puffs had it in them to be this devious, but one can never really know with those quiet ones."

Professor Flitwick looked entirely scandalized by the whole thing. "Oh, quite right, quite right. I'm just glad you and I aren't mixed up in this mess. Our houses at least know how to conduct themselves properly!"

"They certainly do, Professor Flitwick," Severus nodded in firm agreement, forcing back the smug smile that threatened to creep over his face.

XXXXXX

"They were set up! I know they were set up!" Pomona Sprout screamed, pounding a fist onto the headmaster's desk.

All four heads of houses were assembled in Dumbledore's office that evening to sort out what had happened and what would happen. All students had been confined to their common rooms and the Gryffindors were all in bed, clutching buckets or crawling out to line up by the bathrooms. Some of them were already close to recovering fully and Minerva reported that there didn't seem to be any adverse side effects presenting.

Severus had sat on the couch beside Professor Flitwick, and left the two chairs he usually occupied for Minerva and Pomona, who had started arguing as soon as they had all sat down.

First Minerva had demanded to know how dare the Puffs attack her Gryffs in such a way and Pomona had retorted back that her Puffs would never stoop to such levels. Severus had piped up say that lashing out with no planning was really just the way Gryffs dealt with things, and Dumbledore had snapped at him to be quiet since he wasn't helping.

Minerva had pointed at the empty bottles lined up on the headmaster's desk and started yelling out the list of incriminating behaviour that Pomona herself had caught her Hufflepuffs engaging in just hours before.

That was when Pomona had started pounding on Albus' desk and screeching that her Puffs had been set up.

Severus had stopped paying attention to the bickering a while ago, and was instead busy exchanging contorted grimaces and funny faces with the portrait of Phineas Nigellus, who didn't seem interested in the screaming either.

It was only when Pomona reeled around and shoved a shaking finger into his face and screamed "It was _them_! I know it! _Them_!" that he thought he should start paying attention again.

Lifting a lazy eyebrow, he stared at Pomona. "Who the hell is _them_ supposed to be referring to?"

"Slytherins! The lot of you are always up to no good! Slimy, disgusting snakes, that's what you lot are!"

"Pomona! I will ask you to refrain from calling members of other houses by such deroga—"

"They framed us, Albus! Can't you see? They set us up!"

Severus debated staying silent, since the evidence would clear his own house by itself, but decided it was high time to put Pomona Sprout back into her place. He and his house had been putting up with her attitude for years already and he was tired of it.

He pushed himself up and stood before her, pleased that he had never really noticed the fact that he had outgrown his old herbology professor at some point.

"Has being around infant Mandrakes over all these years turned you deaf, Professor Sprout? I believe Professor McGonagall has just finished going over the list of evidence in this situation. You yourself found your Hufflepuffs attempting to hide the bottles outside a window and you yourself discovered that they had been pouring the solution down their sinks. The students you caught were Hufflepuffs, not Slytherins and the place you caught them in was the Hufflepuff common room, not the Slytherin one. What part of this is meant to implicate my house in any way?"

"You slimy lot would go to any lengths to cover up your crimes! We've been seeing it for years now! Slytherins who imperiod innocent people to do their bidding and then implant them with false memories and alter their wand content to not be caught!"

"I thought they were Death Eaters, Professor Sprout. Not necessarily Slytherins." He kept his voice soft and level, knowing that letting her be the only one to resort to yelling would make her feel as childish and dumb as she should feel. Besides, he had always despised yelling.

"They're one and the same! And you are in no position to tell me I'm wrong! Letting scum like you teach our children is how we get into these situations! You teach them to be cruel and devious and they'll grow up to murder us in our beds just like you!"

Severus' hand itched to yank out his wand and blast her across the room, but stopped himself just in time. He opened his mouth to respond to her outrageous comments, but Albus stood up and interrupted them.

"Pomona, that's enough! Severus, quiet please."

"Albus, you know that lot is good for nothing! They set up my Hufflepuffs, you know that! They have no consideration for others, no empathy, no concept of right versus wrong! I don't want that lot near my Hufflepuffs anymore!"

"Professor Sprout, I will have you removed from this room if you disobey one of my orders again! I said, that's enough!"

It wasn't often that the staff heard the headmaster yelling. Severus was a bit more used to it—having had his fair share of arguments with the man over the years—but Pomona and Filius both looked quite shocked.

Knowing he had their full attention now, Albus sat back down. "We will look at this situation using the presented facts. The fact is that the Gryffindors were at the receiving end of a prank. Not a very harmful one, but quite a well thought out one." He shot Minerva a glare when she opened her mouth to express her own opinions on the prank. Severus shook his head. If any other house would have been targeted, Minerva would be the first one to agree.

"Another fact is that the antidote for the potion was stolen from Poppy's stores some time yesterday. None of the students remember seeing anybody taking them and nobody has confessed. This would leave the blame open to be shared by all three remaining houses, were it not for the fact that the Hufflepuffs were caught red handed destroying the evidence." He shot a glare at Pomona when it looked like she would interrupt.

"If, and noticed I said _if_ the Hufflepuffs were set up, why would they have destroyed the evidence? If they would have found the bottles hidden in their things, why wouldn't they have brought them straight to you, Pomona and told you that one of the other two houses had stashed them there? Why would they destroy the evidence that might clear them? I just have one possible explanation. If they were framed— notice I'm still using _if_—the only reason they would have for not bringing it to your attention was if they would end up having to confess why somebody would want to frame them."

Severus hid the smile that threatened to take over his face and instead, watched Pomona's face as understanding set in and then anger. "Are you accusing my Hufflepuffs of doing something that made them deserve being framed?!"

"If they were framed, then yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. However, none of the evidence supports framing anyway. So the only thing I am quite sure of is that the Hufflepuffs did something to someone in this school that they shouldn't have. Perhaps that should be the subject of your ire, Pomona, rather than a house that's quite frankly, none of your business."

With that, he dismissed both Pomona and Filius, who had for some time now taken over Severus' role in exchanging funny faces with the portraits.

Then Dumbledore gestured for Severus to come and sit down beside Minerva.

He clasped his hands and leaned on his desk, looking at the two of them. "Now that it's just the three of us, let us leave all games at the door. We all know that this was your Slytherins doing, Severus."

Severus knew the headmaster would see it insulting if Severus denied it, so he just smirked.

Albus gave him a small smile. "As I said, it was well thought out and extremely well carried out."

Minerva scoffed. "Of course you'd be impressed by this. Never mind that my entire house is miserable!"

"They weren't ever in real danger, Minerva and you know it. They have a few hours of misery to get through but then they'll be fine."

"If you knew all along, why did you let Pomona think her house might be behind it at all?" Minerva demanded.

"It's high time Pomona Sprout started examining her attitude towards Slytherin house. In fact, it might be high time all of us started examining our attitudes towards Severus' house."

Minerva straightened up with a glare. "I have always treated every student the same, Albus! Every one."

Severus snorted. Minerva's glare switched to him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that the way _you_ treat students doesn't matter. Your Gryffs are bullies and just because they don't indulge in it in front of you, you think they're like you."

"My students are not bu—"

"Your students have always been bullies! Always! And you idolize all of them because they smile and act like angels infront of you, never mind that they make Slytherins miserable every damn day of their lives! Slytherins might be known for being masters of manipulation, but your Gryffs know how to play you and every adult in this school just as well as my Slyths do!"

"That is a completely false generalization, Severus!"

"Except for Evans, not a single one of your Gryffs ever tried to help me or ever had a kind word to say to me! Even your precious quiet werewolf never lifted a finger to stop them! I never did anything to them! They started it and they still always do! Just because Slytherins now have the backbone to stand up for each other doesn't mean that anything about your house has changed! Your Gryffs have been getting away with being bullies for decades and it's high time people made them pay for it!"

"How dare your students try to teach my Gryffindors a—"

"Because you never teach them anything! Slytherins are sick and tired of having the Gryffs and the Puffs prance around this school as if they own it! You either start seeing your Gryffs for who they really are, or my Slytherins will continue taking matters into their own hands."

Pushing himself up, Severus stalked out of the office, slamming the door shut behind him.

His bad mood followed him down to the dungeons and he went into his room, locking the door behind him. He didn't want to destroy his Slytherin's mood by his own glumness.

It took him a while until he had swallowed the old resentments and hurts that had been dredged up by his rant.

He waited until the sounds of loud laughter, those familiar, drawling voices and the taunting sound of "Hey, it's _Snivellus_!" disappeared.

Then he got up and made his way to the common room. He could hear the shouting, cheering and laughter before he even opened the door.

Walking in, he was met by a blast of noise from not just his Slytherins but the radio being on full blast. Adrian was sitting in a group of them with Draco, smiling the widest.

They all sobered when they saw him and somebody turned the radio down.

He stepped forward. "I've just finished a meeting with the headmaster. It seems that the Gryffindors are still suffering but will be sufficiently recovered by tomorrow. I'm sure you are most relieved." He exchanged a smirk with his house before continuing.

"The Hufflepuffs will be held accountable for their obvious role in this prank." They all exchanged another smirk.

"I just wanted to say that I am very pleased with your conduct today. You have all behaved in a manner I have come to expect from my Slytherins. You do our house and me proud."

All of them were grinning, obviously very pleased with themselves.

Severus searched through the crowd until he spotted Adrian Pucey. "Mr. Pucey?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I trust you paid careful attention in the past few days?"

"Oh, yes, sir. I learned a lot. We did good, didn't we, sir?"

Severus gave him a small smile before feigning confusion. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Pucey."

Turning around, he left the common room, letting them resume celebrating. When he got back to his room, he found his elf reading by the table. The music that was playing in the common room was echoing in his own room. Severus had years ago devised a way for the music from the radio to transmit to every room in the dungeon, but that it could be individually turned off or volume controlled. He had always found he marked better while listening to whatever his Slytherins were jumping on the couches to.

Severus shot him a mock glare. "How long have you known about it?"

Gorgon grinned. "Since Master Spencer and Miss Ravenia asking Gorgy to help make potion."

"Ahh, when they skipped out on duelling practice."

"Uh hu."

Severus pursed his lips and sat down opposite his elf. "They really went all out this time."

"Oh, yes. And best part is that they do it for one of own, not for own gains. Well, maybe a little for own gains."

Severus smiled. "Taking the kings of the school down a peg always provides some smugness, no matter who you're actually doing it for. But they did damn well, didn't they?"

"They use heads very well."

Pushing himself off the table, Severus jerked his head towards the door and flicked a hand towards the speakers, turning the music off in his room. It was loud enough in the common room itself to still be heard from his room behind his closed door. "Come on, Gorgon. Let's go to the kitchen. We deserve a treat and we have to yell at Gabby and the others for allowing themselves to get distracted enough to allow one of our snakes to contaminate the Gryffs food. It could have been somebody from the outside using Polyjuice Potion and trying to actually poison someone."

Gorgon leapt up and followed him to the kitchen, berating the stupidity of kitchen elves as they went.

Severus didn't bother bringing up the headmaster's words about the rest of the school changing their attitudes about Slytherins. He knew as well as his other Slytherins did that nothing would change.

XXXXXX

"Mr. Montague!"

Josh's head came up when he heard Professor Sprout's snap. "Yes, Professor?"

"Zero on homework again?"

Josh frowned and exchanged a confused look with Miles Bletchley. "I handed in my paper, Professor! It was in the batch with the others. I know it was!"

Professor Sprout gave him a nasty smile. "I couldn't find it. Are you accusing me of having lost it?"

"Uhm…" Josh exchanged a look with Miles, who looked just as confused. "No? Yes?"

"Impudence! Five points from Slytherin, Mr. Montague and detention for not having completed homework again."

Josh's mouth dropped open and he looked close to tears. It was the second time that week that this had happened. This would put him passing herbology in serious jeopardy.

"But, Professor, I saw him working on it. Professor Snape saw him working on it too! You can ask him. I know he handed it in, I know he—"

"Ten points from Slytherin for speaking out of turn, Mr. Bletchley, and unless you'd like detention, I would mind my own business."

Miles sat back with a slump and glared. "You being a hag to a Slyth is my business," he murmured.

"What was that, Mr. Bletchley?"

"Nothing."

XXXXXX

Evan Bole brushed past Cedric Diggory's desk and smoothly swiped all of the puffer-fish eyes from it and shoved them into his pocket. Not looking at the Hufflepuff busily stirring his own potion, Evan returned to his seat beside Luther Warrington and put down the empty vials he had brought with him.

Then he nudged Luther in the side and muttered "Do it now," out of the corner of his mouth at him and shoved the fish eyes into his hands. Luther added the six additional puffer-fish eyes into his cauldron and then gave a cry of dismay when it turned dark purple and started hissing.

"Professor Snape!"

"Yes, Mr. Warrington?"

"Diggory just did something to my potion, sir!"

Severus strode over to peer into Luther's cauldron. Raising an eyebrow, Severus turned to Cedric, who gaped at him. "I never touched his cauldron, sir! I swear! I was working on my own stuff!"

Severus nodded his chin at Luther's cauldron. "That color and texture change could only be caused by adding too many puffer-fish eyes. I gave everybody ten to use. Can you do basic math, Mr. Diggory?"

"Yes."

"Then tell me, if you and your partner needed two fish eyes each for your potions and I gave you ten, how many should you have left?"

"Six, sir."

"And how many do you have left?"

Cedric frantically looked all over his desk and even shoved his partner's things over to look for them. He didn't find any.

"I swear I didn't use them all, sir."

"Not for your own potion, Mr. Diggory, but you did throw them into Mr. Warrington's cauldron. Exchange your cauldron with Mr. Warrington's. Once you're finished brewing, you will clean both cauldrons and return Mr. Warrington's. In addition, you will serve detention tomorrow night, and since you seem so enraptured by puffer-fish eyes, you can sort the rotting ones from the fresh ones in the old cases I have."

Cedric glared. "But his potion is ruined!"

Severus smirked at him. "Which is why next time, you'll think twice before…sabotaging a Slytherin's day. Exchange cauldrons, Mr. Diggory. Good luck trying to salvage Mr. Warrington's potion. I doubt ten minutes will be enough time to reverse the effects, but like your head of house always informs me, you are all a talented bunch of little angels. Surely a high and mighty Hufflepuff can figure it out."

The Slytherins in the class laughed out loud while the Hufflepuffs glared at Severus.

Fuming, Cedric glared at Evan, who helpfully hauled his partner's hissing cauldron onto the Hufflepuff's desk and yanked his calmly simmering one onto their own desk.

"Thanks so much, Puff. Really, next time you feel like being a dick, just let us know," Luther drawled, giving Cedric a wink.

XXXXXX

Severus frowned as his office door opened with a creak but nobody walked in. It took him a moment to hear the faint 'meow' coming from the floor.

Pushing himself up from his seat, he thought he was about to find Mrs. Norris, but was surprised to find a tabby with black square markings around her eyes staring up at him.

She stood just inside the door, staring at him calmly, waiting for permission to enter.

Severus sighed and dropped back in his chair. "Come in, Professor McGonagall. What do you want?"

The cat didn't answer him and hopped up onto the chair facing his desk and sat down, staring at him across the desk.

He ignored her, knowing she was probably here about the thirty points he had taken from her precious Gryffs the other day. Ravenia and Spencer had come to him to complain that Professor Sinistra had given them zeroes on their assignments for talking, when it had really been a group of Gryffs behind them, and everybody knew that, including Sinistra. The Gryffs had smirked at them and had the nerve to frown sadly at the two Slytherins, saying they shouldn't be that disrespectful.

So when he had sixth year Potions the next day, Severus had given them an oral pop quiz. He asked the Gryffs very difficult questions and took five points for each incorrect answer or badly phrased answer or grammatically incorrect answer, and had given his Slytherins questions that were just as difficult, but were ones they had studied the night before in tutorial. And he made sure he wasn't nearly as picky about proper grammar or phrasing with his Slyths answer. His Slytherins had earned themselves thirty points while the Gryffs had lost thirty points.

He didn't care if Minerva would bring up the point that she never took points or gave detention unfairly in her class. He had to make up for nearly every other teacher taking points or treating his Slytherins unfairly. The fact that she was also the head of Gryffindor was just an unfortunate fact.

He continued ignoring her as she sat there and kept on marking essays, viciously failing the Gryffs and Puffs who had more than three spelling mistakes in their papers.

Finally, he felt a tingle of magic before him and knew she had transformed, but he still didn't look up.

"If you're here to start in on me about that quiz in potions, forget about it. Your Gryffs deserved it. Besides, all of the answers were in their textbooks and if those lazy dunces of yours would ever bother coming to class prepared, they would have known the answers."

"I'm not here about the quiz. I don't know why you were angry with the sixth years, but the questions were fair."

"Then why are you here? I have marking to do." And tutorial to attend to in forty minutes, but his house's schedule wasn't Minerva's business.

"I—I came to say I'm sorry."

Severus stopped halfway through crossing out a fifth year's butchery of 'pomegranate juice'.

He hadn't ever heard her stutter or apologize.

"For what? I'm not taking back anything I said in the headmaster's office. I meant every word, and you know it."

"I know. I've—I've been doing a lot of thinking. I know I idolize my students. I always want to think the best of them, so I do. Like you said, they never say or do anything in my presence to prove me wrong. Like I said, I've done a lot of thinking and I really don't think I can change that. I've spent too many years concentrating on teaching more than being a head and I'm too old and tired to change everything I do. But I promise you, I will start using my eyes more. And I'll force myself to wipe the shine off some of my Gryffindors. At least in the way I look at them."

Severus stared at her for a long moment.

This was the best she could do, he knew that. She was old and tired and she had neglected a part of her job for too long to allow her to ever do it properly.

"You're telling me you'll leave the balancing to me?"

"Yes. You can see them all for what they are. Even your Slytherins. I can't. You're better at this than I am, Severus. As long as you promise me you'll keep things balanced and not go overboard, I'll stay out of it."

"That's what you do best, after all."

She closed her eyes and a pained look crossed her face. "I know. That's why I apologized."

"What?"

"I might be blind when it comes to my Gryffindors and I might not understand the politics behind the mess in this school, but I swear to you, if any Slytherin ever came to me for help, I would step in."

Severus leaned back in his chair and gave her a hard, doubtful look. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"So if I would have come to you fifteen years ago and told you what your precious marauders were doing to me, you would have been able to see the situation impartially and would have punished them like they deserved?"

She bit her lip and lowered her gaze and Severus knew he ought to smirk in triumph at having caught her in her own hypocrisy, but it just made him sad.

"We all have our flaws, Severus. All of us. You know that. This is mine."

Severus knew that. He suspected he had known that since he was ten.

She would never be able to see her Gryffindors for anything less than the shiny heroes the world assumed them to be. And Severus realized that the fact didn't bother him as much as it had. Minerva had always been fair to him—to her knowledge at least—and had accepted him back into her life with no demands or hostility.

"If I forgive you your flaws and you forgive me mine, can we sweep this under the rug?"

She looked at him with surprise. "I thought you wouldn't want to have anything to do with me anymore."

He gave her a small smile. "You've been a part of my life for longer than you haven't, Professor McGonagall. We get along well and even if we're heads of houses that always have and always will be at war, it's only rarely driven a wedge between us. I say that's too good of a thing to throw away."

She gave him a smile, tears brimming her eyes. "Thank you. I mean that."

Nodding, Severus was about to turn back to his papers when Minerva leaned forward. "May I ask a favour?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What might that be?"

"Call me Minerva. We've been colleagues longer than you were my student."

He smiled. "Alright. Minerva it is."

She gave him another bright smile and he realized how good it made him feel to see her smile. He might despise the house she was head of, but Minerva McGonagall was an important part of his life. She always had been, and he suspected she always would be.

He turned back to his essays and she reached forward to fish one off the desk and skimmed it. Within seconds, she started berating the writer for butchering the English language in such a way. Grinning, Severus leaned back in his chair and joined in.

They sat there for a long time, lamenting bad spelling and grammar, ordering tea from the kitchens and discussing the gossip that they had heard from various sources over the past week. Nobody would have guessed that one of them was the head of Slytherin house and the other the head of Gryffindor house.

Right then, it didn't matter.


	23. Chapter 23

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 23

A/N: On a little side note for the 'canon cops', I realize I am giving all three Black sisters ages and birth orders that aren't canon, but I already established the Bella is Severus' age and was homeschooled and that Narcissa went to Hogwarts, so this version fits my story best. Just take a deep breath and read that part through quickly if that gives you the heeby-jeebies. Sorry about being a possible cause for indigestion.

'When the heart is cold, there's no hope.'

- 'Stricken' by Disturbed

Tonks shot another hex at her head of house and yanked her other arm up, putting up a shield to deflect the spell he had sent towards her. She immediately twisted to the side and levitated herself up when she saw him sending a volley that would get around her shield. Twisting in the air, she managed to avoid the volley and put up a shield and sent her own barrage of spells to allow herself to land. She took a split second to appreciate the fact that she had made it a habit to change her hair to short spikes before duelling. It was so much simpler.

She had just put her feet down when she felt something slam into her from behind and sent her sprawling on the floor, her nose hitting the floor with a crack.

'Attack first, defend later' raced through her mind.

Sending a quick numbing charm to her nose, she rolled herself over, wrapping a shield around herself and sending a spell in the direction the push had come from. She kept attacking, waiting until she had struck the Professor hard enough to give her the split second she needed to get herself back to her feet.

They continued duelling, trying to knock each other off their feet. Back and forth, up and down they went, ducking, weaving and spinning while streaks of light flashed through the room.

Finally, Tonks felt her foot being yanked out from under her and she went down. She immediately pulled up a hand to send a wandless spell back, but felt her head of house's wand tip against her throat. Game over.

Gasping for breath, she pounded the floor with a fist. "Damn it!" she muttered.

Severus extended his arm and pulled her off the floor.

"Not bad, Ms. Tonks. Why was it essential not to focus on your injury?"

Slowing her breathing, Tonks leaned over to pinch a stitch in her side. "Attack first, defend later, sir. You would have taken advantage of my diverted attention."

"Good. Mistakes?"

Tonks thought back on the duel. The blood dripping down her chin from her still numb nose answered that question.

"When I levitated and spun to avoid your volley, I lost track of where you were and you got a clear shot at my back when I landed."

"And that was a big mistake because…"

"I should always know precisely where my opponent is, even if I have to slow my spins or flips. That could have been a killing curse and not just a body slammer."

Nodding, Severus stepped up to her and grabbed her chin, frowning at her nose.

"It appears to be broken, Ms. Tonks. Do you know how to heal breaks?"

"Skele-gro, sir?"

"Only necessary when you want to regrow bones, Ms. Tonks, not when you want to mend them."

She shook her head. "I don't know any healing charms, sir."

"Alright, pay attention." He pointed his wand at her nose and said: "Episkey."

Tonks felt her nose growing hot and then getting very cold. When Severus pulled his wand away, she reached up and felt her nose, which felt roughly the same shape she had had it in earlier.

"Thanks, sir! E-PI-skey or e-pi-skEY, sir?"

"E-PI-skey."

Nodding, Tonks made a mental note to write it down before she went to bed and practice it. Spencer was always game with letting her practice new spells on him as long as she gave him some sugar quills and fixed him up afterwards.

Pointing a wand at herself, she cleaned the dried blood off her face.

"We can call it a night, Ms. Tonks. Tomorrow, we will start focusing on human impersonations. I want you to spend tonight thinking of someone in the castle who you wish to impersonate. I need you to have a very clear idea of what they look like. I won't expect you to mimic their behaviour—that will come later—but I will expect you to mimic even the slightest detail of their outward appearance. Write down physical characteristics if you like."

Tonks nodded and grinned, feeling excited. They had been practicing animal transformations for years and she had been begging for them to start on human transformations. "I will, sir. I'll be ready."

"Good. When you get back to the common room, tell everyone that I will come and turn lights out at—"

"10:30, sir. I know. I've been in this house for seven years."

Severus shot her a mock glare and she laughed, ducking his arm when he tried to cuff her over the back of the head. Racing out the door, she yelled a "Good night, sir!" over her shoulder.

"Good night, Ms. Tonks!" Severus called back, smiling to himself.

XXXXXX

"Hey, Flint! What pages did Flitwick say he was going to review tomorrow? I thought he said something about a hundred something."

"I dunno. All he said was something about reviewing Summoning Charms."

"Right, thanks."

"Miles! Miles! What did you put down for the last two Principal Exceptions again? I can't find my notes."

"What are you on about, Adrian? The Gamp's junk?"

"The proper name for the principle is Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration's Five Principle Exceptions, Mr. Bletchley, not junk."

"Right you are, sir. Adrian, I got food and money but I forgot the other three."

"Three? I just need two! You're useless, you are! Hand me the textbook from the shelf!"

"Oi! Tonks! Quit trying to Vanish my bloody quill! I'm trying to write here! I don't care if you need practice. Do it to your own bloody quill. Or do Lexie. You have to practice doing vertebrates anyway. Doing quills is easy. And quit laughing at me."

"Sir, can I get more caterpillars from the stores? I was looking at the wrong page and cut them diagonally and not straight."

"Learn how to read page numbers before you throw more of the school's money out the window, Mr. Higgs."

"Right, sir. So, can I…"

"Go get the caterpillars. And while you're in there, check if we have any moonstones left. By the looks of Ms. Bellamy's cauldron, she'll be requiring more in a few minutes."

"Yes, sir."

"Hey Luther? What was that bloke's name who headed the Wizengamot during the Goblin Rebellions in the 1930's?"

"I don't know, Bole. Look it up! We've got a zillion history texts lying all over this classroom."

"The books are hundreds of pages long, Warrington!"

"Which is why the concept of an index was invented, Mr. Bole. Learn to use one."

"Yes, sir."

"Oi, Tonks! What the ruddy hel—heck, sir, I said heck! And I have every right to be yelling, sir! She just spilt all of my ink on my astronomy review!"

"Ms. Tonks—"

"Already on it, sir. And Ravenia, would you calm down? Merlin! I can do this siphoning charm in my sleep."

Through the chaos of summoned books flying through the air, pages of notes zipping from person to person, colored steam and bubbles rising from cauldrons and the sounds of people yelling, grumbling and sighing over their exam reviews, hardly anyone noticed the old elf making his way through the classroom.

"Professor Severus? Young master having a moment?"

"Mr. Montague, for the last time, refrain from doing spellwork in the classroom. We will have plenty of time for spell practice tomorrow evening during our practical session. Summoning charms are the exception, but only for fourth years and up who have sufficient practice at it to not cause accidents. Yes, Gorgon?"

"Young master having visitor in office."

"A visitor? Tell Minerva I'm busy and I'll see her tomorrow."

"It not Professor Minerva. It person not from school."

Severus frowned. The horrid thought that it might be Lucius crossed his mind and he hurried towards his elf, who turned and headed for the classroom door.

Yelling over his shoulder for the older years to supervise the young ones who were working on potions, he shut the classroom door behind him, mentally thinking about escape routes and how fast he could evacuate his Slytherins if Lucius decided to pick a fight. Thank Merlin Draco was visiting family in France with Narcissa.

"Is it Lucius?" He asked in a low voice.

His elf shook his head. "Oh, no, no. It not Master Lucius."

Before he could ask his elf to give him more information, he had reached his office and pushed open the door.

A woman sat in his chair and turned to glance over her shoulder when she heard the door open. She smiled and stood up.

"Professor Snape, I presume?"

He nodded, automatically shaking the hand she had extended towards him and then indicated the chair she had been sitting on. "Please, sit down."

He went around his desk and sat down. His elf had already disappeared presumably to get them drinks. He only remembered the formality half the time. Thank goodness his elf practiced all the manners he had for years tried to teach him.

"I don't mean to be rude, ma'am, but I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Miss…"

She smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Andromeda Tonks. Dora's mother?"

He blinked. As soon as she had said 'Tonks', he realized this must be Tonks' mother, but her mention of Dora threw him.

"Dora being?"

"Short for Nymphadora."

"Right. Nymphadora."

She gave him a rueful smile. "Nobody around here calls her that, do they?"

He decided to be honest. "No, Mrs. Tonks. It is unfortunate, seeing how it is quite a beautiful name."

"It's a name suited for a lady, Professor, and I'm afraid, my daughter has always prided herself on being anything but."

Severus struggled to contain a smile. "That would be Ms. Tonks, yes. I'm very much afraid to say that all of my efforts at turning her into a lady have proven futile over the past seven years, ma'am."

She laughed. "Don't blame yourself, Professor. It's all turned out for the best. And please, call me Andromeda."

His elf appeared at that moment and set a tray onto his desk. Gorgon turned to Andromeda, bowed and asked her what she would like.

"Water is fine, thank you. I apparated to Hogsmeade and walked up. I don't remember the walk taking quite as long when I was a student."

Severus smiled. "Going down you were fuelled by excitement and back up by sweets."

She laughed and accepted her glass of water with a grateful nod of her head.

His elf disapparated, but after a moment, Severus felt his desk slightly vibrate as two elves apparated beneath it. He didn't have to look down to know it was Gorgon and Gabby, whom his elf had probably grabbed from the kitchen when he left.

He left them there, knowing they would hear about the conversation anyway and doubting that Andromeda was going to discuss something Gabby shouldn't hear. He told his elf everything anyway.

Leaning back in his chair, he silently studied Tonks' mother as she drank down one glass of water and then refilled it with a flick of her wand and started on her second cup.

It suddenly struck him that he had now met all three Black sisters, all under very different circumstances and for different reasons.

Andromeda had soft, brown hair and he could see the resemblance between her and Bella more than between her and Narcissa. Her face didn't have the sharp, hard angles that Bella's face did and her eyes weren't empty.

She caught him staring and gave a soft smile when he quickly averted his gaze.

"You're trying to see if I look more like Bella or Cissy."

He debated lying but knew it would make him look idiotic. She obviously knew that he knew both of her sisters.

She raised an eyebrow. "So? Which one is it?"

"Bella," he said automatically.

She nodded. "Cissy was the odd one out. Her and her blondness. The middle child always has to find a way to stand out."

She put her glass down. "I want to apologize for barging in here like this, Professor. I know you must be busy with exam reviews and I realize it was horribly impolite to just show up unannounced, but I didn't want Dora to know I was here."

"May I ask why not?"

"I know how important her NEWTs are, sir. She's worked seven years for these grades and I didn't want to distract her."

Severus frowned. "I beg your pardon then, Andromeda, but why are you here then?"

She smiled. "I wanted to meet you."

"Oh."

She sighed and stared at the floor, obviously trying to think of a way to launch into whatever she wanted to say. Finally, she lifted her head and that spark of determination that Severus recognized from her sisters lit up in her eyes.

"I have a lot I wish to say but I don't know how to begin. May I forgo the necessary dancing around the cauldron and just get right into it?"

"Of course."

And without anymore hesitation, she began.

"I was in Slytherin house. I won't say I was a Slytherin, because that wouldn't be true. I was put into Slytherin house. I knew nothing of the people or the reputation of the house. All I knew was that my parents were thrilled that I was put into Slytherin. I knew my parents and their…opinions and I knew that if they were pleased about something, it would be something I would very much despise. I spent my entire seven years with Ravenclaws. My friends were all Ravenclaws, I sat with them in classes, I ate at their table and on nights when I knew Professor Slughorn wouldn't do bed checks, I slept in their dorms. I despised Slytherin house and avoided it and everybody in it. My parents weren't pleased, but that doesn't matter now. A few years later, Cissy started and she ended up in Slytherin. She was different from me, as you undoubtedly know. She loved the politics in Slytherin house. The mind games. Attaching herself to the 'money' of the moment. It was how she met Lucius. All she ever wanted in life was to find somebody rich and important who would keep her rich and important. She didn't really care about blood purity or the war, or the fact that Lucius was older than her and just wanted to use her like she wanted to use him. She probably still doesn't. Anyway. When it was time for Bella to start school, my parents thought it would be best if she were home schooled. They didn't like how neither Cissy nor I really absorbed the 'lessons' they felt Slytherin house should be teaching. Oh, Cissy learned things alright, but not the things my parents wanted her to know. So Bella was kept home and I have no doubt you saw the results of that. Needless to say, when I heard that my daughter had been sorted into Slytherin, I feared the worst."

She looked away from him at this point and looked at the jars of creatures and plants he kept on his shelves.

"I knew what Slytherin house had turned Cissy into and I knew what kind of a person Lucius was. I knew what most of the others from Slytherin house turned into—Nick Avery, Rudolphus Lestrange, Clemens Mulciber. After Slughorn left and Bodin took over, the stories got worse. Slytherin house wasn't just a breeding ground for blood purists and power hungry socialites anymore. The house was rotting. The suicide and drop out rates were climbing, drugs were everywhere, first years were prostituting themselves in Hogsmeade or having sex with seventh years.

"Then I hear that some twenty year old has taken over as head. I'd read the papers, same as everybody else. I couldn't believe Dumbledore would hand over the rotting waste that was this house to a former Death Eater, drug addict, and drop out who was serving probation and had been a perfect example of what this house produced. Not to mention that I laughed at the idea of a twenty year old running a house, weeks after getting out of Azkaban and with no experience what so ever."

She gave him a brief apologetic smile but he shook his head. "All true. Please, continue."

"I thought Dumbledore had gone mad. I thought he was joking at first, but when the papers kept insisting that you were really going to become head of Slytherin, I thought you had somehow coerced Dumbledore into giving you the post. Why you would want it so badly was beyond me, but I thought Dumbledore would have to be bewitched or mental for choosing someone with your background as head. When my daughter sent me an owl and told me she'd been sorted into Slytherin, I honestly considered pulling her out. I was so afraid that you would keep the house heading in the direction it was going in and that my daughter would end up like you. Please take no offence, Professor. My opinion of you wasn't very high at the beginning."

"I have always admired a Black's honesty, Andromeda. Please, go on."

"I expected to get floo calls from Dumbledore, telling me my daughter had been caught doing drugs, skiving or having sex with someone twice her age. I waited for the owls to come telling me she was dropping out of school to go live with a thirty year old in Knockturn Alley.

"But then a funny thing happened. I got owls. Hundreds of them. Most of them full of complaints about you. 'He always makes us get up for breakfast on time, mum. If we're not up in time, he sends fire crackers through the dorms! Fire crackers! Can you believe it?' 'It's just not fair, mum! All the other houses have free time after dinner but when seven o'clock comes around, we all have to tromp over to the classroom and do homework! For hours! And if we don't have any, he makes up quizzes and extra assignments for us to do! It's unbelievable! None of the teachers can seriously expect us to be keeping up with our assignments like this, do they? I told him that and he just smirked at me and gave me more work to do!' "

She smiled, remembering the letters she had read and re-read with Ted peeking over her shoulder.

"She never once mentioned any of the things I feared. She talked about the rigid schedule you forced them to stick to, she talked about tutorial, she talked about her many friends, she talked about how hard they all worked to get the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup. And nearly every letter, she'd sign as Your Happy Little Slytherin Tonks. I realized she loves this house and she loves being a Slytherin. It took me a while but I eventually realized that she wasn't the same kind of Slytherin that Cissy is or that Lucius is or Capella Rigel was. She's happy, hard working, using her head, sticking up for her friends, but most importantly, she's proud of her house and of who she is. And she owes that to you."

She transferred her gaze back to him and Severus stared back at her, not knowing what to say.

"When she told me she wanted to be an auror when she was twelve, I doubted that it would happen. But you never did, did you? Over all these years, all I've really done for my daughter was worry and fret, but you, you were the one who pushed and nagged and taught her how to be the person she is today. I wanted to come here to thank you, but how does one really thank a person who did what you did for my daughter? There are no words, Professor. You helped turn my daughter into a strong, proud, ambitious woman who has a very good chance at being accepted into auror training in a few months time. I might have doubted you at the beginning, but now I think I understand why Dumbledore wanted you for this job and why you were perfect for it. You're the kind of Slytherin I would have wanted to be friends with, Professor."

Severus smiled, touched by the comment. "Thank you. That means a lot more to me than you probably realize."

"Don't thank me, Professor. My family is extremely lucky that you became a part of our lives. Whether you like it or not, you've been a part of our family for seven years now. You spent more time raising our daughter in the past seven years than Ted and I have and all Nymphadora ever talks about at home is you and her Slytherin friends. Ted and I feel like we've known you for years already."

She leaned forward in her chair. "I know Nymphadora is graduating in a few weeks, Professor, but I hope this won't mean the end of our relationship."

He blushed slightly. "I—I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll accept when Ted and I invite you for dinner over the summer."

"Uhm…"

"Ted has been wanting to meet you for years but you know he can't come to the school. And I know Dora would just love to have you over, not to mention there are lots of things I still want to discuss with you."

Giving him a smile, she stood up. Remembering his manners, he stood up too, still struggling not to gape at her. He didn't remember ever having been invited to somebody's house for dinner because an entire family wanted to spend time with him. Not to recruit him, not to influence him, not to win points in the Dark Lord's favour, but just to have him over for dinner and conversation.

She stuck out her hand and he shook it. "So, Nymphadora will send you an owl with a few dates. Just tell us which night would suit you best, Professor. Now, I realize I've taken up more than enough of your time. I'll get out of your hair before tutorial is finished." She threw her cloak back over her shoulder and gave him another smile.

"It was an absolute pleasure to meet you, Professor. I do hope to see you soon."

Spinning around, she walked out the door, leaving him gaping after her.

Gorgon and Gabby climbed out from under the desk and stared after her too.

"What nice lady!" Gabby squealed.

Gorgon nodded. "What nice family! They all wanting to meet and spend time with young master! Oh, this so exciting!"

Severus shook himself out of his stunned surprise. "I don't think there will be any dinner if Ms. Tonks flunks her NEWTs. Come on, Gorgon. We have to get back to tutorial. Ms. Bellamy probably set herself and her cauldron on fire by now."

Muttering to himself, he hurried out of his office and headed back to the classroom, the two elves still grinning and jabbering to each other—in Elfish so Tonks couldn't understand—as they followed closely behind him.


	24. Chapter 24

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 24

A/N: I was re-reading what I'd written and I started to think to myself: Wow, it's been a long time since Quirrel took that year off. That's when I realized that I was a moron and made Quirrel take off in the summer of 89 and not 90 like he was supposed to. facepalm

Anyway, I have corrected my mistake and moved that scene with Dumbledore and Snape discussing who gets to take over DADA from chapter 19 over to this chapter. So once you reach that part, if you've already read it, feel free to skip it, but note that there is new stuff following it.

And Edna – thank you for your very kind words! I'm glad to see another Bella fan has joined our ranks! I haven't planned to include Bella very much at all until we hit the fourth book, but just for people like you and Lettuce, I'll see if I can stuff some Bella scenes in here and there. None in these two chapters, but I'll do what I can in future ones.

'Peace can't be kept by force; only by understanding.'

- Albert Einstein

Summer, 1990

Hogwarts School

_Dear Professor Snape,_

_I just got the news this morning and next to my parents, you're the person I had to tell next!_

_I GOT IN!!_

_I got a very official looking letter from Emmaline Vance from the Auror Department at the ministry saying that my NEWT scores were 'exemplary' and that my preliminary test scores and interview were 'outstanding'. I wonder if I can count that Outstanding as another NEWT. I could start telling people I got seven NEWTs and not just six. I know you're frowning right now, sir, but I think people ought to get a NEWT for just sitting the Arithmancy and Transfiguration NEWT finals and additional ones for actually passing._

_Alright, quit sighing at me. Back on track I go._

_The letter says that training will start in September. They sent me a list of some of the courses I'm going to be taking. I had a good laugh when I saw the Concealment and Disguise class. That'll be a hard one, huh? Thank merlin we've practiced my transforming so much! Finally, my talent at turning myself into a duck will come in handy!_

_I'm joking, sir. _

_Possibly._

_Anyway, I can't wait to start duelling lessons! From what I've heard, not a lot of the new trainees have any real duelling experience! That'll be great fun! I'll write and tell you how many obvious mistakes they make. Anyway, the one I'm really worried about is Stealth and Tracking. You know me! The Auror who was testing us even said I would have to work on 'controlled movement'. He should have just called me dead clumsy and smacked me over the head like you always do. He seemed to think I'd be offended if he didn't phrase it politely. He seems to think I'm a Puff or something. I recognized quite a few old Hogwarts students amongst those testing. Surprise, surprise, I'm the only Slyth. I didn't tell anybody yet. I figured I'd wait and pull that ace out of my sleeve when the perfect opportunity strikes. (By the way, that was a reference to playing cards, sir. Never mind if you didn't get it)._

_The letter said training typically takes three years, but if you want to take extra practical courses and guarantee yourself a spot at the ministry here in England, you're 'strongly encouraged' to take four years. I think I'll go for the four. In for a knut, in for a Galleon, right, sir?_

_Anyway, I heard from mum that you'll be coming over next Sunday for dinner! If Ravenia is staying at school with you, feel free to bring her along! I'd love to see the old nut!_

_See you on Sunday, sir!_

_Cheers, _

_Tonks_

XXXXXX

Realizing the time, Severus sighed and told Ted and Andromeda Tonks that he had an early morning meeting with the headmaster and would have to head back to school. Not to mention that Ravenia still had some summer reading to do before bed.

Ted nodded and took his empty beer bottle from him—real muggle beer, which had been an experience—while he turned to inform Ravenia that they were leaving.

He had been immensely worried about this dinner. He'd had half a mind to come up with some idiotic excuse to cancel, but Ravenia had been so excited about seeing Tonks and getting off castle grounds that he forced himself to carry through with it.

Any nervousness he had disappeared as soon as they had apparated to the Tonks' front step. Tonks had come flying out of the house with Lexina around her neck and thrown herself at both of them, and Andromeda and Ted had been all smiles, all of them thrilled to see them both.

He spent the first few minutes worried that the flowers he had snuck out of the greenhouse for Andromeda weren't the appropriate kind—he knew nothing about such things and for once, neither did his elf—and that the spiffing up charms they had all put on Ravenia's second hand dress robes—all he could afford for her—wouldn't hold up until dinner was over.

But within minutes of being surrounded by three happy, chattering Tonks, he forgot all about his worries.

Severus had pulled Andromeda aside and thanked her specifically for inviting Ravenia. She had given him a soft smile. "She isn't only Dora's friend, but it would be rude to invite you and not the young lady whom you've raised and has lived with you for six years." Severus thanked her again, grateful that Tonks had apparently told her parents about Ravenia living with him at the school. Severus had heard enough about group homes and only had to remember Tabitha Coolridge to approach Ravenia early in her first year and ask if she would like to live at the school year round.

Ravenia insisted on helping Andromeda prepare dinner and Tonks was shoved out of the kitchen when she wanted to help—her mother and Ravenia both accustomed to the damage that Tonk's helpfulness could cause.

So Tonks and Ted stayed with Severus, who couldn't help but stare at things like the television and lamps.

When Ted and Tonks realized what was capturing his attention, they enthusiastically dragged him all over the house, flicking switches, pressing buttons and explaining how the devices worked. Severus was fascinated by it all, nearly wanting to ask the headmaster if they could somehow hook up a small part of the school on electricity and get their own blenders and telephones. What a vastly superior way of communicating those phone things were as opposed to kneeling on a hard floor and getting ash down the back of your robes while you yelled through a fireplace to someone else! He found himself actually regretting not having taken Muggle Studies during school. He hadn't had any idea that muggles had such fascinating ways of compensating for their lack of magical ability.

During dinner, Ravenia and Tonks recounted stories from school—about Quidditch games, pranks played on the other houses, excruciating homework assignments, and funny magical accidents in classes—while Severus interrupted occasionally to correct outrageous exaggerations and to add essential details which were curiously left omitted.

Once dinner was finished, Severus insisted on helping Ted and Andromeda clean up while Ravenia curled up on the couch to read Tonk's acceptance letter.

To Severus' immense delight, Andromeda showed him how they used the dishwasher, even though she usually did the dishes by magic when it was her turn. Severus was also allowed to poke at the buttons on the microwave and explore the refrigerator. Andromeda flicked her wand at the fridge and pulled it away from the wall so Ted could show him how the fridge actually worked.

Once he'd seen his fill, he, Ted and Andromeda sat on the couch together and talked about life at Hogwarts, what this Auror business would mean for Tonks and how Andromeda found a balance between the magical world and the muggle one.

Once he had finished his beer and realized the time, Severus had started to excuse himself and call over for Ravenia to get her cloak on.

While Andromeda followed Ravenia towards the front door and Ted went to fetch her cloak, Tonks threw herself down on the couch where he still sat, Lexina winding around her arm.

"Sir, may I ask a question?"

"Nothing's ever stopped you before, Ms. Tonks."

She grinned and turned her nose into a pig's snout before wiggling it at him.

"I was wondering if I could come by and get help for course work and such things."

"Of course, Ms. Tonks."

"Could I come by during tutorial and help out and then stay after for extra help?"

Severus nodded. "That would be fine. And anytime you need to work on something for longer lengths of time, let me know and I can keep my Saturdays free. I might need a hand brewing a few things, but asides from that, we can work on whatever you wish."

She grinned. "That would be great, sir. Thank you."

"It's not a problem."

"No. I meant for everything, sir. I wouldn't have ever gotten through the NEWT material without your help, and I never realized how much all the extra transforming, duelling and theoretical work we did will pay off. I know I'm going to get through the program, sir."

"I'm holding you to it, Ms. Tonks. And just because you're graduated doesn't mean I won't continue holding you to the same standards that I've held you to for the past seven years. I expect you to work hard, use your head and come ask me for help if you require it."

"I will, sir. Definitely."

"You know where to find me and what the house's schedule is. My office door is always open."

Just then, Ravenia called over that she was leaving with or without him and Tonks grinned at him while he rolled his eyes.

"She can start walking whenever she wants. It's not as if she'll beat me home even if I waited here half the night," he muttered, getting to his feet.

He was about to turn towards the door when Tonks suddenly threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

He stayed frozen for a moment, always shocked by these unexpected displays of affection from his Slytherins or the headmaster.

After a moment, he put his arms around her and gently squeezed her back.

"Thank you, sir. You made me love my house and school and you made me proud of who I am and where I'm going. I'm really glad the sorting hat put me where it did."

He chuckled. "I have to say I agree, Ms. Tonks."

She released him and shot him a wide grin. "I don't think you'll ever be rid of me, sir."

He rolled his eyes. "That's a concept that doesn't fill me with as much dread as it should."

She laughed and they walked towards the door where Ted and Andromeda wished him a good night and told him they'd be in touch to set up another dinner soon. He and Ravenia thanked them and then walked to the front of the house where Ravenia grabbed his arm with one hand, ready for him to apparate them back to school and waved good bye to the Tonks' with her other.

Once they arrived and started walking up to the castle, Ravenia shot him a grin.

"I can't believe our charms held on my dress robes, sir. They still look brand new."

He snorted. "Just don't expect them to be that way tomorrow morning."

"I had a lot of fun, sir. Did you?"

"I actually did."

"Aren't you glad I forced you to go?"

He stopped and shot her a mild glare. She laughed and wiggled her eyebrows at him. "I had to lay it on thick, sir! I knew you'd try to wiggle out of it otherwise. But I knew you'd have a good time and besides, it doesn't happen nearly enough that people appreciate you like they should."

He smiled and jogged up the castle steps. "Do you know something else that isn't appreciated as much as it should be?"

He held open the castle doors and she slipped through under his arm. "What, sir?"

"Your standard book of spells grade 7 textbook."

"But I've already used up all of my appreciation for the day on you, sir."

"In that case, there's no need for you to accompany me to Diagon Alley tomorrow for supplies, is there?"

"On second thought, sir, I think I can dredge up enough appreciation for Miranda Goshawk's pearls of wisdom."

"I wouldn't go that far, Ms. Bellamy. Mrs. Goshawk might have been correct about the basics, but the simplicity of the sixth and seventh year books is atrocious."

She laughed and thudded down the stairs to the dungeons after him.

"When we're in Diagon Alley, can we swing by the Magical Menagerie and see if Terence is working?"

"Of course. As long as there's minimal fussing at the dentist."

"The more I fuss and pretend to cry, the more free toothpaste and toothbrushes I get, sir."

"On second thought, I'll bring my handkerchief."

XXXXXX

Albus was forced to stop writing as another piece of parchment was neatly slid onto the paper he was currently writing on.

"What's this?" He looked up to see Severus looking politely innocent.

"A list."

"A list of what?"

"A list of very capable, very well recommended Potions masters who would all love to come substitute for a year."

Albus sighed and leaned back in his chair, dropping the parchment and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"My dear boy, are you trying to drive me to madness before my time?"

"They're all working at the ministry, headmaster, which means the ministry will be hypocritical if they don't let them teach! And it's just for a year! Quirrel will be back next summer, he said so."

"_Professor_ Quirrel."

Severus waved a dismissive hand. "Whatever. The point is that you said I couldn't sub because there wasn't anybody to sub for potions for a year, but I found someone! A lot of someones! You can even choose!"

Albus sighed again and closed his eyes. "My boy, we have been over this ad nauseam."

"And now we don't have to have this conversation ever again, because I solved the problem you said was standing in our way."

"No, Severus. I said that I wasn't giving you the position, _least of all_ because it would be difficult to find somebody to substitute for a year. I never said that was the _only_ issue."

Severus scowled and narrowed his eyes when Dumbledore gave him a small smile. "Well played, headmaster."

"Thank you, but in this case, I honestly wasn't trying to trick you. I don't believe giving you DADA will be beneficial to anybody."

"How so?! I know more about the Dark Arts than anybody in this school."

Albus pointed a finger at him. "There you are! That is my reason right there."

"What?"

"Do you remember what Professor Krupnit always wrote on your exams year after year?"

Severus scowled. "I know the class isn't called 'Best Uses of the Dark Arts'! I get the distinction now."

"I know you do, Severus. That isn't the issue. First of all, you know how closely the ministry monitors what you do here and you know how badly they try to find ways to force me to throw you out. Letting a former Death Eater teach a class dealing with dark magic would give them a perfect excuse to sack you."

Severus scoffed. "That's a weak argument, and you know it. I would consent to have somebody supervising my classes and would send my lesson plans in for inspection if necessary."

Albus held up a hand. "It nevertheless is an important point against you having this post. Another reason is that I'm sorry to say, my boy, I simply don't trust that you will abide by ministry guidelines for what should be taught in Defense."

"You have agreed with me for years that the curriculum for DADA is outdated and ludicrous and lacking in essentials."

"Yes, but I also believe that you and I differ in what we consider to be essential for a child's knowledge about the dark arts."

Severus clenched his jaw. "Don't tell me we're about to start this old argument again."

"Believe me, I don't want to. But the fact remains that you are still not willing to see that it is dangerous to teach somebody magic that could be used to cause harm!"

"I haven't used dark magic to cause harm in years, headmaster! Nor would I encourage anybody to do so!"

"But you did, Severus! You learned the magic on your own time and I'll bet you never intended on using it to cause harm, but when a situation presented itself just so, you did. I refuse to allow somebody to give a child the equivalent of a loaded gun."

"A what?"

"Never mind. The point is that I don't want any child in this school learning magic that they could use to harm another."

Severus glared. "Even if that means not teaching them to defend themselves against real dangers? Because Merlin knows, the only evil in this world comes in the form of Pixies, right?"

Albus opened to his mouth to retort an answer back, but then covered his face with his hands and then let them drop onto the armrests of his chair.

"We are finished this discussion, Severus. My answer is no. Professor Krupnit will be coming out of retirement to substitute for the year."

Severus stared down at him for a long moment. "After all this time, you are still being a fool."

Albus' hands clenched into fists. "We are _finished_ this discussion!"

Seething, Severus snapped his mouth shut and stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut behind him.

Albus was left staring at the door sadly. _"We are never going to see eye to eye on this one, Fawkes. Never."_

_"Maybe.__ But it won't tear you apart again like it did last time. He knows how bad things can get when he doesn't have you around. He'll agree to disagree with you if it means staying by your side."_

_"I despise arguing with him, old friend. It hurts."_

_"Of course it does. But it's not as if you two argue about many other things, and it's not as if you don't still love each other. Let him have his opinion on the matter and you keep yours. That's all you can do for now."_

School Year, 1990 - 1991

Hogwarts School

Spencer frowned at the potential Seekers diving towards the ground one after the other to grab the Snitches that would appear for each of them. One of the Seekers fumbled the Snitch and dropped it and when he turned to give it another try, he nearly ended up colliding with the next Seeker doing her own dive.

Spencer chuckled when Marcus flew up to the tangle of legs, arms and brooms to yell at the previous Seeker.

"I still think Terence is the best, sir."

Severus looked up from Josh Montague's revision schedule. "Really? Mr. Higgs is a fifth year already, Mr. Creber."

"I know, sir. But he's still lighter and faster than I am now. The younger Seekers just aren't good enough."

"That's what you get for eating too much over summer," Ravenia murmured with a smile, not looking up from her Advanced Potions textbook.

Spencer leaned up and smacked her lightly before turning back to watch the Seekers.

Severus watched the next potential Seeker fail to slow down in time and plow right into the ground. Marcus zipped over to him, screaming at him for the bad timing, bad broom control and of course, for having completely missed the Snitch.

Damn. Terence really was the only one good enough to take over as Seeker, but he would only be able to play another three years. Ideally, they should replace him during his seventh year, which would only give him two years of playing time. They had started making it a habit to replace the seventh year Quidditch players who were taking a lot of NEWT classes to give them one less thing to worry about.

Which meant that in just two years time, they'd have to find another Seeker. And so far, none of the potentials looked good enough.

"Alright. Tell Mr. Flint that we both think Mr. Higgs would be the best choice. If he agrees, then tell Mr. Higgs that he's just become a Seeker in addition to being a prefect."

Spencer grinned and stood up to signal his former captain. "Following my exact footsteps. The boy makes me proud."

Severus snorted. "The _boy_ is a year and a half younger than you, Mr. Creber."

Spencer laughed and thudded down the bleachers to tell Marcus what they thought. Marcus stopped his broom and hovered above Spencer's head, listening and finally nodded, saying he agreed. Then he yelled for all the potential Seekers to get off the field and for the Beaters to come on up.

Julian Derrick would be helping Marcus lead the Beater drills, being their only current Beater.

Spencer waved Terence over as the Seekers trudged off the field, their brooms on their shoulders.

"Hey, Terence! Get over here, mate!"

Terence peeled off from the group and came over. "Yeah?"

"So looks like you'll be replacing this old sack of bones on the team."

Terence's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yup."

"Awesome! Thanks a lot!" The brand new prefect and Seeker ran off the pitch, heading back to the bleachers to tell everybody else.

The Beater trials proved to be not nearly as abysmal as the Seeker trials had been. One of the best surprises of the day was the improvement Evan Bole showed.

Julian Derrick was grinning the entire time Evan flew through his drill, not missing a single Bludger and slamming the Bludgers into every target that Marcus and Julian had set up.

As soon as the other Beaters had gone through the drill, Marcus glanced over at Severus, who nodded and then up at Julian, who was also nodding frantically, a wide grin on his face.

"Right. So I guess it's clear. Congratulations, Bole. You've just became our other Beater."

Evan let out a cheer and flew at Julian and they slammed into each other, nearly falling off their brooms as they smacked each other on the back.

"I told you you could do it if we practiced hard enough!" Julian yelled at his best friend, who was grinning at him.

The Keeper trials proved another very pleasant surprise.

When the potential Keepers lined up to start their drill, Marcus and their current Keeper both did a double take when tiny Miles Bletchley stood in line with the others.

"Uhm, Bletchley, are you sure you want to do this? You're only second year."

Miles glared. "So? Julian was only second year last year and he was made Beater! And Spencer was Seeker since his second year."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "I know that, twit! Derrick was big for his age and Seekers have to be light and small anyway. But usually Keepers have to be a bit on the large side too."

Miles jerked his chin up. "You not going to let me do the drill?"

"Don't be stupid, Bletchley! Of course I'm going to let you do the drill. I'm just saying that there isn't a very big chance that you'll make it. I'm just trying to let you down nicely."

"I appreciate it, I really do, but I've been practicing really hard all summer with my brothers. I think I'll surprise you."

Marcus nodded. "Alright. Let's do this." He swung himself back onto his broom and kicked off, yelling down for the first potential Keeper to start.

Severus wasn't really paying attention to what was going on on the pitch, but he looked up when he heard Ravenia gasp and Luther Warrington and Adrian Pucey both let out a "Wow!"

Severus looked up to see a small blur zipping around in front of the Keeper hoops, spinning and twisting around his broom to grab the Quaffles flying at him.

Miles might be one of the smallest people in their house but he definitely had the stuff to be Keeper.

He would lunge for the Quaffle, arms outstretched and twist his legs around his broom to keep from falling off and catch it, the momentum of the Quaffle slamming him into one of the hoop edges. He didn't even pause before diving after the next Quaffle.

Once the bewitched series of Quaffles had finished throwing themselves at Miles and lined up to wait for the signal to start for the next Keeper, everybody stared at Miles in complete silence for a few moments until Severus noticed he'd dripped ink all over Evan's revision schedule and Marcus yelled for the next Keeper to start.

Even though all the other Keepers had a turn and some did well, none of them managed to do as good of a job as Miles had, and Marcus gave him a wide grin, slapped him on the back hard enough to nearly topple the small second year and told him he would love to be proven wrong like that everyday.

XXXXXX

Severus finished re-explaining the concept of why using a silver knife was best when pruning (and later peeling) Abyssinian shrivelfigs to Josh Montague.

Once Josh had resumed his scribbling, Severus continued walking around the classroom, peering over shoulders and into cauldrons.

Tonks was sitting with Luther, Evan and Julian and helping them go over the theory behind transfiguring a teapot into a tortoise, pointing at the relevant pictures in the transfiguration textbook she had propped open on the desk. She had come in right when tutorial was about to start and had asked if the two of them could go over some of the theory behind some tracking methods she had learned and not quite understood. Severus had some lesson plans to tweak for tomorrow, but Tonks had said she had been dying to tell 'her people' all about what the first few months of Auror training had been like, so she didn't mind him taking a while.

Severus reached the front of the classroom and was about to head back down the aisle when he spotted Draco standing by the bookshelves stuffed full of every textbook and reference book imaginable. The ten year old had been helping assist some of the people working on potions but had since wandered over here.

Meandering over to him, Severus leaned against the counter below the shelves. "Something you're looking for specifically, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco frowned. "Aren't you scared the other houses will try to take the books, sir?"

Smiling, Severus waved his wand over the shelves and they turned into a solid wall. Waving his wand again, the shelves reappeared.

Draco had given a slight start when the shelves had disappeared, but now he grinned.

"Cool, sir."

Severus glanced back over the classroom and noticed some first years had finished their homework and were setting up a board game.

"Some of your housemates look like they're setting up a game over there, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco nodded. "I know. I wanted to read something."

"Something like what?"

Draco shrugged slightly. "I know I'm not allowed to get a wand until summer but everybody's always doing tons of work in here without ever touching a wand."

Severus smiled. "Realizing that magic doesn't only entail waving a wand is something that usually takes until October to sink in for the first years."

Draco smiled back. "I've been hanging around in tutorial for three years, sir. I guess I just thought I might start the course work a bit early. Is that alright?"

Severus narrowed his eyes. "You won't touch a wand or attempt any of the magic you'll read about?"

"No, sir. I promise. I just want to start reading some of the stuff I'll have to read next year anyway."

Reaching past Draco's head, Severus took Miranda Goshawk's grade 1 book of 'wisdom' off the shelf and handed it to Draco.

"Do chapters 1, 3 and 7 first. Don't bother with chapter 2, and chapters 4 through 6 are a bit more complicated."

Grinning, Draco grabbed the book and went to sit next to Ravenia, who nudged over her pile of notes to make a bit more room for him.

Curling up in his seat, Draco opened the book at chapter 1 and started reading.


	25. Chapter 25

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 25

'Hold me, like the river Jordan and I will then say to thee; you are my friend. Carry me like you are my brother, love me like a mother, will you be there?'

- 'Will You Be There?' by Michael Jackson

XXXXXX

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and lifted his wand to send the next stream of green fire down the corridor to summon Terence Higgs for his career consultation.

He shot a look of extreme annoyance at Draco, who was perched on the chair opposite his desk.

"Mr. Malfoy, for the last time, there is almost zero chance that the sorting hat would put you into something other than Slytherin. Not only has nearly every member of your extended family been in Slytherin, but you are obviously best suited to be in Slytherin. The sorting hat isn't cruel, Mr. Malfoy. It won't put you in a different house just to spite you."

"But what if it does?"

"Merlin's sake, Draco! We've been over this a hundred times. It won't happen. But in the event that it does, we've already discussed what you will do. You will remove the hat from your head, place it on the stool, go to the table you were selected for, sit down and eat dinner. You will not make a scene, you will not throw things or insult the people you are sitting with. Once dinner is finished, you will wait for me to come down from the head table and we will go see your temporary head of house and inform them that we're switching you into Slytherin."

"So you swear I won't have to sleep with the Gryffs or the Puffs? Not for a single second?"

Terence Higgs appeared in the doorway and grinned when he heard what Draco was saying.

"For the last time, Mr. Malfoy, I swear to you, you will spend every night next year sleeping in the exact same bed that you've occupied for the past three years. Now kindly remove yourself from this office. It was rude enough that you interrupted Mr. Flint's consultation and I will not have you interrupting Mr. Higgs' as well."

Looking more reassured but still a tiny bit worried, Draco squeezed past Terence and ran back to the common room.

Rolling his eyes at the retreating ten year old's back, Severus gestured for Terence to take a seat and opened his folder.

"Alright, Mr. Higgs, let's get straight to it. You have dropped Divinations this year and your sole elective remains Care of Magical Creatures. You know you must take this course through to OWL level at least?"

"Yes, sir. I like Care of Magical Creatures. It's always been my favourite class and Professor Kettleburn has always been really cool. Divinations is a great place to take a breather and the assignments are dead easy to fudge—"

Severus nodded, not bothering to deny it. That was the very reason he had taken Divinations up to NEWT level. His elf had never understood why he hadn't dropped the course and stuck with the other ten courses he took through to NEWT level. Divinations had been his chance to kick back and relax a bit.

"—but you do have to put a bit of effort into the exams, and I just don't have the time to actually spend time on Divinations. Not if I'm going to get through all the other stuff I have to take."

Severus nodded. They had discussed the matter at length the year before and Severus was glad that Terence had finally agreed with him and dropped Divinations and kept the class he enjoyed and didn't mind putting the work into.

"What are your plans for NEWT level courses?"

Terence shrugged. "I'm not too keen on it, sir."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Higgs, you know my requirement for graduation."

"Yes, sir. I said I wasn't too keen on it, but I know I have to do at least sixth year Charms, Defense, Potions and Transfiguration. I've already resigned myself to that misery next year, sir. It's going to be great fun."

Severus smiled and leaned back in his chair. "What do you have in mind once you're finished school, Mr. Higgs?"

Terence shifted in his seat for a few minutes and pressed his lips together. He looked like he wanted to look down at the floor, but he knew that action would just irritate his head of house so he kept his chin up and looked at Severus.

"I was actually considering making next year my last year, sir."

Severus nodded. He had actually been expecting it. Terence Higgs had always been a pleasant, smart and friendly person, but he despised studying. It wasn't that he was lazy, he just wasn't as intellectually driven as others were. He had always done his best to keep up with his assignments and never begged out of tutorial and had never moaned too loudly over having to take his core courses to OWL level, but Severus knew it had been his dream for years to quit after sixth year. Despite his lack of enthusiasm for academics, Terence had proven to be a good enough role model in the house to earn himself the right to be prefect.

"Do you have any plans for your future asides from the fact that it won't involve books?"

Terence grinned and leaned forward. "You know I've been working at the Menagerie in Diagon Alley for a couple of years now."

Severus nodded, having visited Terence there nearly every summer that he took his summer charges to the alley to get new robes, shoes, toys, go to the dentist and rummage around for bargain deals on books and potion supplies.

"Well, Shaula—I mean Madame Crux—says she's getting a bit on in age and she says she'll be looking for a full time assistant manager in a few years time. I asked her if she'd consider me for the position and she says she'd actually been planning on asking me about it, but she knew I still had a few years of school."

"Does she know you still have a year and a half left?"

"Yes, sir. I told her and she says she can hang on until then. She really doesn't want to hire an outsider who doesn't know the store inside out and everybody who's working for her can only do part time."

"I know you've always enjoyed working at the Menagerie, but are you certain you'd want to do it full time?"

His face lit up. "Oh, absolutely, sir. My parents think it's a good idea too. Madame Crux has always been really great about hiring me on just for the summer and she's taught me everything about running the store." Then Terence leaned forward and lowered his voice. "And just between you and me, sir, once Madame Crux really starts getting on, I could probably become manager and eventually even buy the place from her."

Severus chuckled. "Thinking like a Slytherin, Mr. Higgs."

Terence grinned back. "I don't mean I'll be yanking the place out from under her feet, but it would help her out and it would be an awesome opportunity for me, wouldn't it?"

"If you stir your cauldron right, Mr. Higgs. You'll have to start thinking about working at the shop as a lifestyle, not just a job. Everything you say and do in the store might end up influencing the rest of your life."

"Yes, sir."

Severus nodded and leaned over his desk to scribble a few notes into Terence's file. "Alright. I'll want you to speak to Madame Crux as soon as possible—I'll arrange a floo call tomorrow night—and get some written guarantee that you'll be given the job once you're finished your sixth year if she continues to be satisfied with you as a person and as an employee. There's no use leaving school if you don't have something guaranteed lined up. In addition, I would consider it a good idea to wander around the alley and speak to other shop owners next summer, Mr. Higgs, and gather a broader idea of owning and running a business. I will find you some books on the subject, but I'm afraid that's all the help I can offer you with that."

"That would be great, sir. Thanks. Would you want me to write up some sort of promissory note for Shaula to sign, sir?"

"Yes. Bring me a first draft tomorrow before breakfast and we'll work on it during the day."

"Awesome. Thank you, sir." Pushing himself up, Terence grinned happily and headed out the door.

Making a final note before shutting Terence's folder, Severus randomly grabbed the next one, looked at the name and sent another stream of green fire towards the common room.

XXXXXX

"—which is why the results of that diagnostic charm wouldn't have revealed the individual magical strands and would have only shown you one solid web."

Tonks frowned, chewing on the end of her quill and leaning back in her chair, staring at the blackboard Severus had thrown the relevant diagrams up on.

"But you would see the individual strands in the web, sir."

"Obviously, but you would see them all as being the same type of ward, Ms. Tonks. As a result, you would try to use the same counter-charm to destroy the entire web, which wouldn't bring it down."

"Oh!" Tonks exclaimed, letting her chair thud back onto the floor. "So if I'd used the other two diagnostic charms, I would have been able to differentiate between the different ward strands and been able to use the proper counter-charms for each."

"Exactly. And quit abusing classroom furniture, Ms. Tonks. That chair survived seven years of you sitting on it and it would be a shame for it to break now."

Tonks rolled her eyes and then sighed, leaning down to scribble notes concerning the exam question she had gotten wrong. "Why Auror Dawlish couldn't have just said that is beyond me. All he kept saying over and over was that using the other charm wouldn't work 'properly'. Fat lot of good that does me," she grumbled, Lexina slithering around her neck like a necklace.

Severus smiled and sat on the edge of his desk, waiting for her to copy down the rest of the diagrams. Picking up her exam paper, he flipped through the pages, reading the answers she had gotten right and looking for the ones she'd gotten wrong or missed completely.

A shout from the doorway made them both look up. "Hey! There he is! Hey, Professor! And hey! Leland! Tonks is here too!"

They both gaped at the doorway where Carling had stuck her head in and was grinning at them.

"Carling!" Tonks screamed, throwing down her quill and racing over to her, tripping over a desk and two chairs along the way, but finally making it all the way to Carling and the two of them threw their arms around each other, squealing happily.

Severus tossed the exam paper down and came over, smiling happily at seeing Carling again.

He saw Leland stick his head into the classroom. "Mr. Dayton!"

Leland grinned and hurried over to him, reaching out and shaking his hand. "Hey, Professor! It's great to see you!"

"What a wonderful surprise! What brings you both by?"

"Carling had the day off and we knew it was Saturday, so we thought we'd come by and see everybody."

Carling grinned at Severus. "Yeah, speaking of it being a Saturday, what the bloody hell are you two doing working, huh? Butchering house rules, that's what the lot of you are doing!"

"Professor Snape was helping me with some course work, Carling. Trust me, we'd both rather be doing something else, but I have to get this down."

Carling scoffed at them both. "Well, the work is finished for now! Get into the common room, you two! Leland and I have so much to tell you and we want to know everything that's been going on here!"

She turned and headed out of the classroom and the other three had no choice but to follow her.

The common room was full of the usual chaos that was representative of a Saturday when they arrived.

The radio was on full blast, the younger students were playing board games and chess on the floor and the table, and Severus had transfigured one of the couches into a trampoline with high shielded sides like he did every Saturday morning. A line of students wound from the railing by the fifth year dormitory down the staircase and one by one, they would launch themselves off the railing and onto the trampoline below. They'd bounce a few times and then touch a strip of red along the edge of the trampoline that lowered the shield long enough for them to climb off and go line up again.

Everybody who wasn't jumping or playing was lazing around on the couches or in their rooms, throwing snacks to each other and talking.

Carling strode into the room and spotted Marcus on the couch right away. "Hey, Flint! What the hell have you been doing with my old team, huh? I hear you have Higgs playing Seeker now, huh? Creber getting too fat for you?"

Everybody looked up and there were yells of greeting and excited squeals as everybody surged forward to greet the three former Slytherins and their housemaster.

They all headed back to the couches, the seventh years and Tonks conjuring up more temporary couches for everybody to fit.

When they had all sat down, they heard a yell from upstairs and everybody looked up to see Draco launching himself off the railing. He sailed through the air, hit the trampoline and bounced high enough to flip himself over twice before landing.

Everybody let loose hollers and cheers as Draco grinned, bowed and climbed off the trampoline to come and squeeze himself onto the couch between Severus and Carling.

Carling grinned down at him. "So how's it going little snake?"

Draco stuck his chin out at her. "I'm not little anymore, Carling! I'll be starting first year in September."

Carling frowned. "You sure about that? I didn't think they let five year olds start at Hogwarts."

Draco scowled and jabbed his elbow into Carling's side. She caught his elbow and laughed.

Then people started asking Carling and Leland questions about what life was like for them out in the 'real' world, always eager to catch up from when the twins had last visited or the tid bits Severus told them from their letters.

Carling talked about practice and some of the games they recently played, telling them about funny fumbles and pranks they'd played on the other teams. A lot of the Slytherins who hadn't been Quidditch fans originally now followed the Holyhead Harpies progress, always terribly proud to tell anybody who listened that one of the Harpy Beaters had come from their house.

Then she started grilling Marcus Flint on who was playing what position and what drills he was using and how they'd done so far. The Quidditch players were quick to tell her about successful saves, drills and sneaky tricks they used against the other houses. She scowled when she heard that Charlie Weasley was still captain of the Gryff team, but then cheered up considerably when Severus reminded her that he was a seventh year and would be gone next year. Evan Bole was proud as punch when he told her he'd practiced some of the drills she'd told him about last year and that he'd made the team that year. Carling was so sceptical when she was told that Miles Bletchley was their new Keeper that she demanded he prove himself tomorrow morning at the pitch.

Miles and her had both looked at Severus, who sighed and said that if everybody worked until he said they were finished tomorrow evening, they could start the day by playing a little interhouse quidditch. And yes, Leland and Carling could spend the night in his spare room.

Before letting Miles off the hook, Carling told him he better be on his top game tomorrow because Cameron and Derrick Sommers had both been superb Keepers and he had a reputation to uphold.

Some of the younger years demanded to be told stories about these former Quidditch legends and Carling and the older students merrily launched into tales of the Slytherins who had been their elders. Even Spencer who was now a seventh year only knew Cameron from his visits.

That topic brought that frequent demand that Carling tell the story of how they had won the Quidditch Cup for the first time all those years ago.

Severus was almost stunned to realize that Carling and Leland had been third years back then and it had been Spencer's first year. Spencer hadn't even been old enough to try out for the Seeker position that he had just been forced to give up this year.

It seemed like a million years ago.

Something must have shown on his face because Carling shot him a grin. "Yup, face it, sir, you're getting old. Did you ever think we'd be asked to tell the 'old' stories of how hard we fought for those Cups?"

Tonks laughed. "Almost everybody in here has taken it for granted that we get both Cups every single year. They don't know what life was like before the Cups."

Leland smiled. "They don't know what life was like before Professor Snape became head."

Tonks grinned. "That was even before my time."

"And it was a time that we won't be revisiting, if you don't mind," Severus interrupted before the demands for those particular old tales could start.

There was a chorus of complaints, but Leland and Carling agreed. Those years hadn't been anything they were proud of.

Instead, Severus turned to Leland and asked him how school was going and what classes he was taking. As always when the topic of conversation became art, Leland started chattering, full of excitement.

Many of the Slytherins were pure-bloods and had never even been in a muggle style house and they couldn't understand how Leland went to a muggle school.

He entertained them with tales of using erasers, taking the underground train to and from school and having the teachers actually having to go up and down the rows to collect their assignments rather than just summoning them.

Draco glanced at Severus. "You'd go nuts, sir. Having to pick up each and every paper by hand."

"Are you saying I'm lazy, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco gave him a wide grin and turned back to Leland. "What were you saying, Leland? Go on."

Everybody laughed and Severus smacked Draco over the head before Leland continued. They were all enthralled with his descriptions of the elevator in the school which students weren't allowed to use but Leland had snuck on a few times to explore.

Then Carling started complaining about living like a muggle with light switches, using a match to turn on the gas stove and having to scrub the bathroom by hand. But then Leland told them about the television, the telephone and movie theatres and everybody started getting envious again.

Once they were through, Carling demanded Tonks fill them in on what courses she was taking and what life as an Auror in training was like. Even though Tonks came by the school a lot to help out during tutorial, she was mostly with Professor Snape afterwards and didn't have a lot of time to catch up with the rest of her house.

Tonks told them about an old Auror who taught them MLE history and was more boring than Binns—making everybody grin in sympathy—and how she had flattened every single one of her opponents in less than thirty seconds in every duel she had fought so far.

"They're getting better, but Merlin! If I knock one of them over, they hold up a hand and tell me to give them a minute since they have to get back on their feet first and would I hold my fire?"

Everybody roared with laughter and Miles nearly cried he was laughing so hard. "Don't they know 'attack first, defend later?' And these morons are going to be Aurors?"

"I guess it's why the program takes a few years."

Everybody chuckled and then Adrian piped up from the floor to ask if Carling and Leland had heard about the 'prank of the century' that they had pulled off last year.

Carling glared at her head of house. "No, as a matter of fact, we didn't. I heard, and I quote 'There was a bit of a situation with the Gryffs and the Puffs, but we settled it rather nicely.' I seem to remember writing back 'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' and getting a really vague answer."

Severus shot her small smile. "It was something that has to stay within our house, Ms. Dayton. I didn't think it wise to put all the details into a letter. But now that you're here, you should hear it. Mr. Pucey, it is really your story to tell."

Adrian blushed. "Technically, it's Marcus and Terence who did most of the work, sir."

"But you're the one who brought it all about, aren't you?" Marcus called over from where he was leaning over the upstairs railing. "Go on, Pucey! Tell 'em."

So Adrian launched into the tale, constantly being interrupted by Tonks, Draco and Spencer and the others who had participated and wanted to shed a greater shine onto their roles.

When they were through and Leland and Carling had nearly laughed themselves sick, Draco suggested having a few broom races before dinner.

Severus got up and went to the side door of the dungeons and summoned the school brooms to himself while the few Slytherins who had their own brooms went to go grab them. He handed them out and cast a soft rubberizing charm on the walls and sides of the corridor while Carling lined everybody up.

The people with brooms paired off against somebody more or less their equal in height, weight and flying ability and at the sound of an explosion of red sparks from Severus' wand, the first pair took off. They would race down the corridor, careering off the walls and nearly avoiding colliding with each other until they reached the end, crashing into the soft rubberized stones at the end within split seconds of each other.

Spencer coaxed and whined until Ravenia finally agreed to race. Normally she wasn't a huge flying fan, but she agreed to race the former Seeker once—if she got a head start. Even with the head start, she ended up losing, but she was laughing too hard at the end to care. Evan and Julian ended up arriving too close for anybody to say who won and Tonks outflew Leland, who had at first gotten on the broom the wrong way, causing Tonks to nearly pass out from laughter.

Then a cry of 'captains' came up and Carling and Marcus raced against each other. Carling ended up winning, but only because she grabbed Marcus around the waist at the last second and twisted them to the side, ensuring she hit the wall first. As soon as they landed, Carling got up and threw her arms up in triumph and Marcus tackled her to the floor in a tangle of limbs and brooms.

Lastly, Draco raced Luther Warrington. Even though Luther was a third year, he had been one of the few to nearly fail flying lessons in first year and had to be threatened and blackmailed to be forced to keep practicing until he could stay on a broom for longer than a few minutes. Madame Hooch had said Luther simply didn't have a knack for flying and he should be left alone, but Severus considered knowing how to fly a broom a safety issue and insisted that all of his Slytherins know how. If they couldn't apparate and didn't have any floo powder or Thestrals nearby, flying a broom might be their only chance of getting out of a sticky situation.

Because of frequent broom races, Luther could now hold his own on a broom, but he still lost more races than he won.

Draco had kicked at his foot until the older boy agreed to race him and Draco went to line up with him.

Carling frowned over to where Draco was waiting in line with Luther and turned to her head of house. "Hey, when did Draco graduate from the child-proof brooms?"

Tonks laughed as Severus answered her. "Oh, about a year ago. He practiced flying around the pitch on a normal broom a couple of times and he did so well that I let him start racing on normal brooms. If he flunks flying lessons next year, I'm throwing him out of the house."

When it was Draco and Luther's turn, Draco leapt on his broom and took off, leaving Luther in the dust. Draco hit the wall and climbed back to his feet, cheering and jumping up and down. Luther stopped his own broom before he even got to the wall and casually climbed off. Everybody stared as he grabbed hold of his broom and stared around himself before suddenly swinging it around and knocking Draco straight into the wall with a yelp. Everybody burst into laughter.

Draco glared up at Luther from the floor, who shrugged. "Didn't see you there, Draco. Honest. Oh, and the flying wasn't bad either. Congrats."

Draco glared harder. "You're just jealous I outflew you."

Luther grinned. "Yup. But I feel a lot better now. Thanks, little snake."

Reaching down, Luther pulled Draco back up to his feet and they shouldered their brooms and went to the sides, clearing the corridor for the next pair.

XXXXXX

"Excuse me," Josh Montague muttered, trying to squeeze past the group of fifth year Gryffindors standing by the front doors.

One of them slightly shifted to stare down at him, and immediately grinned.

"Hey! Guys, look what the cat dragged in. A little Slytherin."

The rest of the group turned and they all smiled at him, cold, predatory smiles.

"A slimy little Slytherin," another said.

Josh lifted his chin and glared back. "Fuck off! I'm just trying to get through to get to herbology."

"Oh, did you hear that? The snake's got a mouth on him."

"We should wash that out for him. Wouldn't want him around the younger years with that mouth."

Josh started berating himself for having an armful of books and his wand stowed away in his bag. Professor Snape was always saying they should carry their wands up their sleeves so they had quick, easy access to them, but Krupnit had been slow in letting them out from Defense and he knew he had to rush to herbology to avoid having Sprout take any points or giving him detention, so he had stuffed his wand into his bag with the rest of his stuff.

He steeled himself, listening to their laughter. His eyes went down to their hands and ignored the things coming out of their mouths. As soon as their hands started twitching towards their pockets, he dropped his books and bag, lunged for his bag and accidentally kicked it further away from him. He leapt onto it and started tearing through it for his wand. As soon as he had dropped, the certainty that he was way, way too late rang through his head.

Professor Snape would kill him. Wand not properly hidden and too slow reaction times. Damn it!

His fingers madly searched for the little piece of wood in his bag but he really just wanted to close his eyes and curl up, knowing that whatever would happen, would happen.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar shout behind him. "Josh, get down!"

Immediately, he flattened himself onto the floor on top of his bag.

In the next second, spells flashed past where his head had been and two of the Gryffs went down, hit by nonverbal Petrificus'. The other Gryffs spun and fired back down the corridor, but he heard their spells hitting the walls and broom closet.

Then more spells came flying back down the corridor and one of the Gryffs dove out the front door to avoid it and the other two spun through the air before landing on the floor. One of them made the mistake of slowly getting up and rubbing their bruised elbow. That was all the opening his attacker needed and the Gryff was hit by a Petrificus Totalis and slammed onto the floor.

The other Gryff was slightly smarter and had immediately turned to fire back, but was too slow and a non-verbal Expelliarmus sent her wand spinning out of her hand.

She obviously didn't know how to do a wandless 'Accio wand!'—something that Professor Snape insisted every Slytherin fifth year and up master if nothing else—so she ran out the door.

There was silence in the corridor for a lone moment until Spencer's familiar voice yelled to him that it was alright and he could get up now.

Josh pushed himself up and started gathering his things. The first thing he did was yank his wand out of his bag and stuff it up his sleeve, scowling at it.

"Don't tell me your wand was stuffed in your bag, Montague!" Marcus Flint called from down the corridor where he had ducked out from behind the statue he had been hiding behind. "Next time, we'll leave you to the Gryffs."

Spencer turned and scowled at the younger Slytherin. "Shut up, Marcus! No, we won't. You can bet Josh won't make the same mistake again. Right?" And this time Spencer directed his hard look at Josh, who nodded frantically.

"Good. Hey, the coast is clear, guys! Come on out."

Ravenia, Draco and Adrian hurried out from behind the other supply closet they had hid behind.

"Lucky we were just coming up and Adrian was even later than you leaving Defense. Marcus got behind the statue as soon as he saw there was a problem and he signalled the rest of us to get behind the closet. We were in perfect position to fire as soon as they started pulling wands," Spencer said, flicking his wand at a stray book Josh had forgotten and summoning it to himself before tossing it at Josh.

"Alright, you and Adrian hurry up and get to herbology. Sprout will take points and probably give detention, but there's nothing we can do about it now. You'll have to earn those points back, you hear?"

Adrian was about to nod but Josh shook his head. "I'll do it, Adrian. I wouldn't have made us both late if my wand would have been where it should be. I'll earn back the points she'll take."

Shrugging, Adrian nodded. "That's fair. Come on, let's go."

They hurried to the door, but Josh turned back. "Hey, thanks guys. That would have turned ugly really quick."

Spencer grinned. "Don't worry about it."

Marcus scowled and muttered for them to get out of there or Sprout would empty their hour glass completely. Then he himself took off for Krupnit's classroom and Ravenia, Spencer and Draco were left in the corridor.

"You still want to come to the library, Draco? We'll need research help. It won't be terribly entertaining," Ravenia said, shoving her wand back up her sleeve and adjusting the strap of her bag.

The younger Slytherin nodded. "I don't mind. I don't have anything else to do in the dungeons by myself."

They turned and headed for the library. Half way there, Spencer stopped and crouched down before Draco.

"Draco, listen. You did really well in the corridor just now, you know that?"

Draco scowled. "I don't even have a wand, Spencer! All I did was stand there and watch."

"But next year you'll have a wand. And Ravenia and I won't be here anymore next year, Draco. It'll be up to you to protect the other Slytherins, little snake. It'll be up to you to learn all you can in your younger years and practice it all, and when you're older, it'll be your job to teach it all to the younger years and look out for them. The older Slytherins always look out for the younger ones. You know that, right?"

Draco nodded, having seen examples of this over and over again.

"Of course I know that. It's the way we do things in our house."

Spencer grinned at him and Ravenia nodded, looking pleased. "You won't let us down, little snake?"

Draco straightened with a mild glare. "Of course not! This is my house and everybody in it is like my family! I'll look out for them."

Ravenia and Spencer exchanged a look and then nodded. Their job as seventh year Slytherins was now done, even if their job as seventh year students wasn't.

"Alright, let's get to the library and bully a table away from the Claws. The snots don't need a table for each of them and their junk, I don't care what they say."


	26. Chapter 26

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 26

A/N: As always a quick reminder than any canon mistakes are intentional and are done to keep the story going in the direction I need it to go. Try to relax and enjoy them. Think of them as plot enhancers, rather than glaring mistakes. Remember, the world will not fall down, nor will Rowling come to strike me dead. Breathe.

And yes, these three chapters cover the events of the summer preceding Harry's first year. Harry isn't the only one for whom the summer of 91 was a busy one full of surprises. But since we already know what happened during Harry's summer, let's explore what happened everywhere else, shall we? Enjoy!

'An ignorant friend is worse than a learned foe.'

- Brian Herbert, 'Dune: House Corrino'

Summer, 1991

Smiling at the wide eyed stares he was getting, Albus continued down the sidewalk. It really was a charming street. Quiet, purely residential, lined with tall trees and cozy little houses whose gardens were filled with children's toys and bicycles.

Checking the address on the slip of parchment Minerva had handed him, he squinted at the house numbers until he finally found the right house.

He went up the walk and stopped to admire the flowers in the window boxes before knocking on the door.

Within moments, a tall, dark woman opened the door. The moment she saw Dumbledore, her eyes widened with shock, and then immediately was replaced by anger.

"How many different ways do I have to say no?" she hissed. "Get off my property and leave us alone!" Stepping back in, she was about to slam the door shut when Albus held up a hand and froze the door.

"Melora, please. Just hear me out. All I need is two minutes of your time."

"Unfreeze my door, Dumbledore and get away from my family!"

"He'll be back, Melora. You know that. You must have heard the rumors before you left and I can confirm it. If you want to protect your family when the time comes, you must let me in and hear me out."

She narrowed her eyes. "If this is about Dean going to Hogwarts—"

"It doesn't have to be. Please, just give me a moment of your time. I know Dean and your husband aren't home right now anyway."

She lifted her chin. "Been spying on us?"

"Would you have liked me to just pick a time at random to come for a visit?"

"I would have liked you not to come at all! I could have just burnt all the letters, you know. It was quite courteous of me to send them all back."

"Something which Minerva appreciated, I'm sure, but only writing the word 'No' on all of them didn't explain your hesitancy."

She crossed her arms. "I don't have to explain myself to you or anybody else, Dumbledore." But she still moved back and gestured him inside. "And unfreeze my damn door."

He smiled and waved his hand at the door, unfreezing it and shutting it for her and then following her into the living room.

She gestured for him to sit on the couch and she perched onto the chair across from him.

"So? Let's hear it."

Albus was busy staring around the living room, taking in the Muggle style photographs on the wall and a Muggle chess set on the table in the corner.

"Does Dean have any idea?"

Melora narrowed her eyes again. "No. And I don't intend on telling him."

"He's not a squib. You know that. He showed up on the registrar list."

"I haven't had any difficulty explaining away the strange things he does from time to time without being aware of it."

"It's simple enough when he's young, but as he gets older, his magic will grow stronger and mature. Accidental magic from adults can be disastrous, much more so than from children. You know that as well as I do."

She looked down at her hands. "I'll handle it when the time comes. If it's something too big to explain away, I can obliviate him."

"You haven't done any magic in eleven years, Melora. You could seriously hurt him if you attempted it."

She clenched her jaw. "Why can't you just leave us alone? I've never caused you or the ministry any problems. I've never done a bit of magic, I have a muggle job, my son and my husband don't even know the wizarding world exists and I've never broken any laws, muggle or wizarding."

Dumbledore leaned forward. "Why did you not come back after the war?"

"Why would I have?"

"I know it must have been difficult for you when you ran. Dean was just a few months old and you were alone. We had places of refuge set up for people in your exact situation and we've been doing our best to help find them homes and jobs after the war ended. You didn't have to do it all on your own."

She still didn't look at him. "I was scared. They'd murdered Gary and I knew they'd come after Dean and me soon. They always went after the families, you know that. Sending a message and purging the wizarding world of 'wrong minded' people all in one swoop. I sat in my house for nearly a week after the aurors came and told me about Gary. I drank gobletfuls of Pepper Up Potion and just sat there, holding Dean with one hand and my wand in my other. I was so scared they'd come. I knew they would. So when an auror came to me and told me to evacuate, I thought, why would I go to another house and spend more time hiding? So I left completely. I broke my wand, threw it away and stayed in a women's shelter in London for a few weeks. They helped me find a place to live and a job. It hasn't been spectacular, but we're both alive. Now I'm married, my husband thinks of Dean as his own son and we're happy. Don't ask me to come back to that insanity."

"Things are calm now, Melora."

"For now. Like you said, he'll be back."

Albus leaned forward. "And when he does come back, what happens when he realizes you're still alive? What if he comes after you again?"

"If he decides to come after my family again it won't make a difference whether I'm living in the muggle world or not. He can find us if he wants to, as you well know."

"But as things are now, Dean and your husband would be completely defenceless."

"We have a gun, Dumbledore. My husband taught me how to use it."

"You know a gun is useless where Voldemort and his Death Eaters are concerned. Your husband and Dean are in even greater danger now than before."

"Why?"

"Ignorance, Melora. How can they prepare to fight something that they don't even know exists? You may think you're doing your family a big favour, but I'm very much afraid that you will end up regretting it."

She sighed. "You want Dean to go to Hogwarts."

"Where he will learn enough to protect himself, both magically and intellectually."

"I don't even have a wand anymore."

"You know where Diagon Alley is as well as I do. You can ask Tom to let you in."

Melora finally lifted her gaze and stared at Albus. "How can I tell him, Albus? Both of them? How do I tell them I've been living a lie and forcing Dean to without him even knowing?"

"What does he know about his father?"

"I told him he died from a stroke when he was a baby. He's never asked much about him. His stepfather is the only father he's ever known."

"He deserves to know the truth."

Melora suddenly looked angry. "The truth? I don't want to tell my son that his father was a bigot and supported the notion of making muggle borns and half bloods second class citizens!"

"He changed his mind, Melora. It's why they killed him."

"A fat lot of good that did us! He knew, he _knew_ what they were like! And you want me to tell my son that?"

"Tell him what you think he should know. You don't have to tell him every detail if he doesn't want to know."

Melora looked down at her hands. "Will you stay while I tell him?"

"Of course."

"I mean," she gave a fragile laugh. "How does one even start such a conversation? How on earth does Minerva start with the muggle borns? What would I say? 'Guess what, sweetheart? You know those stories I've been reading you since you were little? Well, not only are most of them real but you're actually a wizard. What would you like for dinner?'"

Albus smiled. "We don't quite launch into it like that."

"You'll be doing most of the talking, I hope you know."

"Certainly."

They were quiet for a moment. "I don't want to move, Albus. And I want to keep my job."

"That's fine. Many half blood and muggle born families remain in the muggle world. I'll get you the papers you'll need from the ministry so they won't send you reprimands every time they sense someone doing magic in here. You'll have to abide by certain guidelines, but there's no reason you have to leave your life here."

"I'll have to start practicing once I get a wand again."

"Only if you want. I never meant for you to become a fighter, Melora. Leave that to those who train for it. All I want is for Dean to have the knowledge he needs so ignorance won't remain his greatest enemy."

She nodded and they lapsed into silence again. Finally, Melora frowned slightly. "Albus, why didn't they come?"

"When?"

"Why didn't the Death Eaters come?"

Albus let out a small sigh. "They did."

She blinked. "And you stopped them?"

"Well, not me, but yes, they were stopped. At least, they were delayed until the aurors got there, and from then on, an auror detail was always guarding your home until you left."

"Who stopped them? Aurors?"

Albus smiled. "Not exactly. I'm afraid I can't get into detail. Let's just say that an extraordinary, young person saved your and Dean's lives that day at great risk to their own."

Melora smiled back. "Well, if you happen to see this person at any point, tell them that my son and I owe our lives to them and that I thank them for whatever risks they took to save us. I'll always remember what they did for us, and once I tell Dean everything, I'll make sure Dean does the same."

"I'll pass on the message. I know it'll be appreciated." Albus clapped his hands and leaned back in his chair. "Now that that's all covered, let me give you a bare outline of how we usually bring about the revelation of the wizarding world to muggle borns."

XXXXXX

She barely heard the tapping noise on the glass pane of her so called home. She'd become accustomed to the annoyance, much like she had been forced to become accustomed to many things about this disgusting muggle establishment.

People rapping on the glass, ignorant muggles shouting at her, trying to get her to wiggle or hiss or some such nonsense. When they had first locked her up in here nearly ten years ago, she'd been enraged and hissed and lunged at whoever appeared before the glass. The muggles had screamed and backed away from the glass, the smallest of the swine even running out of the reptile house, hopefully never to bother her again.

Once she realized that the glass was too thick for her to break through and that her enraged displays of annoyance were seen as entertainment by the disgusting hordes of filth that stared at her, she'd stopped responding to them.

She had been the companion of the most powerful wizard to ever walk this earth for more than twenty years! She had been respected, revered and feared by all who dared be in the company of the Dark Lord! It was bad enough that these…beings locked her up, but when they tried to get her to perform for them like a common garden snake, she refused.

It was the only shot at dignity she had these days.

"Do it again!" she heard a boy whining, which was followed by the rapping sound coming again, harder this time. It was quickly followed by the usual "This is boring!" when she didn't respond and kept her eyes closed.

Then she sensed something. Something she had only sensed a few times in the years she had been locked in this pit.

A magical aura.

Keeping her eyes closed, she concentrated, not wanting to give up her ploy of napping if she could help it. But there it was! A distinct, sharp, magical aura.

It wasn't strong enough to belong to that of an adult wizard or witch, but it was stronger than that of a mudblood child.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and stared at the dark haired boy staring back at her. She was shocked by his age. Magical auras this strong usually belonged to teenagers. Never mind that the boy was obviously a mudblood, if the boring muggle auras she sensed from the other people in the house was anything to go by.

Maybe, maybe this was her chance.

She had known for years that her only chance of escape was either waiting for some sort of natural disaster that would crack the glass enough to allow her to slither through, or having a wizard or witch release her.

She knew they wouldn't want to do it deliberately, but she knew that children were prone to fits of accidental magic.

It was a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. So she had made it a habit to be pleasant and friendly any time a wizarding child came to her exhibit.

So far, she had been unlucky. The children would get excited, point and gibber, but their parents would lead them away before they could do anything—accidental or otherwise.

But this boy was strong. She could sense that.

Maybe he was strong enough to do what she needed him to do.

She stared at him and then winked.

The boy looked shocked and jerked back and Nagini was half afraid he would turn and run to his parents like so many had before, but the boy simply checked to see if anybody had seen, and then stared back at her and winked.

Wonderful, she thought. Now to bring out the friendliness a bit more, get some sympathy streaming her way and maybe, the ensuing pity the mudblood felt for her would be enough to trigger something from him.

She jerked her eyes over to where his supposed parents were and rolled her eyes, trying to look as miserable as possible. She wasn't very good at it. Misery was something for common garden snakes, not her.

Come on, stupid, filthy mudblood! Come on! Say something! React!

"I know. It must really be annoying."

That's it! Weak, insipid creatures, mudbloods were. And damn predictable. Always ready with pity and sympathy, always ready to be taken advantage of.

She nodded vigorously, hoping to keep the conversation going.

"Where do you come from, anyway?"

The usual stupid questions. She knew by now how to quickly get past these questions. She jabbed her tail at the sign next to the glass. The boy leaned forward to read the insulting words before looking up at her.

"Was it nice there?"

What on earth was he talking about? _Nice_? Where? She thought it over, and then remembered that the sign declared that her 'kind'—which was supposedly a Boa Constrictor—was most abundant in Brazil.

Wanting to hiss at his stupidity, she jabbed her tail at the sign again. She needed pity, not amazement at supposedly being a specimen from South America.

The boy leaned forward again and finished reading the sign which Nagini knew by heart. She could understand why they had written that she had been bred in a zoo. Saying that they had found her slithering along a residential street in broad daylight was the sort of thing that would frighten these simpletons.

The boy was talking again. "Oh, I see—so you've never been to Brazil?"

She was starting to doubt the intellectual capability of the mudblood before her. Couldn't he read?! What kind of a question was that?

She shook her head, still forcing herself to appear sad, even though she wanted to lash out and hiss at the moron.

They both jumped when a loud yell came from behind the boy. A boy was standing behind the dark haired one, pointing and yelling for a Dudley and Mr. Dursley to come and see what she was doing. She nearly rolled her eyes. What morons. If only they could see what she was really capable of. If they were this impressed with her nodding and winking, they should see her crushing the life out of six of them at once. That was something to be impressed by.

Then a fat boy came rushing—more like waddling—up and shoved the dark haired boy to the side, who fell over.

Nagini felt the wave of magic before she was aware of what had happened. She knew the boy had released some magic, probably triggered by anger at being pushed over.

And before she could blink, the glass before her disappeared.

She grinned. This was so much better than just a crack.

She rapidly uncoiled herself, not caring that the fat boy and his friend were screaming and leaping back from her. Quickly, she slithered to the ground, knowing she had to get away quickly before they brought out those strange looking wands that shot little arrows that stupefied her.

As she passed the dark haired boy, she thought she should cover her tracks, even if he couldn't understand her. One never knew when somebody would start asking questions.

"Brazil, here I come…Thankssss, amigo," she hissed, thrilled that she knew at least that Spanish word.

Without looking back at him, she slithered rapidly through the crowd of screaming, running filth, heading towards the doors at the end.

Freedom! Oh, how she had longed for this day!

Now all she had to do was find her companion. Once that was done, they could resume where they had left off, and the next time she saw any of these filthy creatures, they would be bowing to her, pleading for their pathetic lives before she fed on them.

XXXXXX

Severus opened the office door when he heard the usual call of "Come in!". Striding in, he dropped into his usual seat, raising his eyebrows at finding Minerva already in the other seat. She regularly came back to school at the end of July to start sending out the first year admission letters, supply lists to all returning students and helping the headmaster with administrative duties. Most of the other teachers—with the exceptions of Sybill and Severus who lived at the school full time—only came back to the castle towards the end of August.

Dumbledore glanced up and put down his quill. "Ahh, there you are!"

"I apologize about the delay. Quirrel was going hysterical about something being in his luggage and refused to open it himself to check."

Minerva looked alarmed. "What was it?"

Severus gave her a look. "An alarm clock. He'd set it for evening instead of morning and it went off just when he was bringing his things back into the castle."

Minerva pressed her lips together, a sure sign that she was trying to keep from laughing.

Severus ignored her and turned to the headmaster. "Headmaster, are you sure Quirrel is fit for teaching?"

Albus gave him a look and Severus quickly overrode what he knew would be his first statement. "I'm not saying it because I want to teach Defence. I'm just saying the man seems very…odd. Stuttering, nervous, scared of his own shadow. Not to mention that turban. What on earth has he been doing in Albania?"

Dumbledore struggled to suppress a smile. "He apparently ran into some difficulties with some vampires and a…hag. Or two."

Minerva put her hand to her mouth and both her and the headmaster struggled to hold in their laughter.

Severus rolled his eyes. "You two are impossible. Quirrel is a lot of things, but he's not completely incompetent and it would take more than a hag yelling at him to make him this much of a wreck."

"If the hag frightened him by yelling, yes. But maybe she frightened him in…other ways."

Severus frowned. "You think she cursed him?"

Albus was obviously struggling not to laugh and Minerva had covered her face with both hands and was convulsing in silent laughter.

"Not exactly."

"Then how the hell did she….oh, for Merlin's sake! Headmaster! You think some sort of strange sexual encounter did this to him?"

Minerva let out a snort and doubled over, slapping her leg as she laughed, clearly lost in hysterics. Albus himself let out a snort and didn't make eye contact with Severus.

"You are both the most irritating people I have met in my life! Why I agree to work for Gryffs is beyond me. That theory is absolutely absurd!"

"I'm sure that's what Quirrel himself thought too," Minerva choked out, before doubling back over in laughter.

Severus rolled his eyes again and sat back, allowing the smallest of smiles of flicker across his face. It was a pretty funny mental image, but of course completely false. There was another, much more serious issue he wanted to discuss with the headmaster, but he wasn't sure Minerva should hear it.

He waited until she had regained control of herself enough to excuse herself and went out the door. Loud laughter could be heard from the staircase as it carried her back down.

Severus turned to the headmaster. "If you are quite finished, sir…"

Albus gave him a magnanimous wave. "Please, go ahead."

Severus leaned forward. "I noticed something else strange about Quirrel when I was with him. And don't start laughing, this is serious. My mark felt a tremendous amount of dark magic coming from him."

Albus sat up with a jerk. Although the mark wasn't visible to the naked eye anymore, Severus had always been able to feel the residual magic beneath his skin. He could still sense a faint itch when he was near the headmaster, but it was nothing compared to the overwhelming irritation that the mark had expressed when it had been fully functional.

He hadn't been around enough dark magic in the past few years to test if the opposite effect also worked, but the faint, soothing tingle beneath his skin when he had come near Quirrel was unmistakable.

"You're absolutely certain it was because of Quirrel?"

"Absolutely, sir. It has never happened before. With anybody. The mark hasn't been able to sense any dark magic in Malfoy manor, or even in Azkaban, but it reacted to Quirrel, very strongly, considering how faint the mark is."

Albus frowned. "None of my detectors have picked anything up."

"I know what I felt, headmaster. I know what the mark feels like in certain circumstances."

"I know you do. But I just can't understand why Professor Quirrel of all people would harbour this much dark magic in him. What on earth _was_ the man doing last year?"

"Didn't you ask?"

"I started to, but with the stammering and the way the man was jumping from subject to subject, I realized it would be a very long, jumbled tall tale. And if you're correct, it would probably also be a very untrue tale."

"Should we legilimize him, sir?"

"He's an Occlumens, you know that. Besides, if he has been playing around with dark magic strong enough to affect the mark, he might prove very determined not to share certain information with us."

"We could toss him out of the school."

Albus sighed. "I don't want him around the children anymore than you do, but the fact of the matter is that Quirrel might be up to something. If he is, he'll be easier to keep an eye on and stopped if he thinks he's being discreet and unsuspected."

Severus nodded. "So we keep an eye on him."

"For now. I'd appreciate you keeping both eyes on him, actually. And I wouldn't be completely against some snooping. Careful snooping."

Severus smirked. "A Slytherin doesn't do any other kind of snooping."

Albus smiled back and they settled back in their chairs, knowing there was nothing they could do about Quirrel at the moment.

Severus reached forward and pulled the lid off the porcelain jar of biscuits on the headmaster's desk and fished one out.

"Could I ask you to check on the young Thestrals for me tonight?"

Severus crunched the biscuit and nodded.

He still couldn't tolerate being around Elixa and Xira for long periods of time and mostly went out of his way to avoid them both. He knew Xira missed him, but the memories of running around with her, Elixa and Evans always depressed him if he thought about it for too long. He still occasionally helped Hagrid care for the younger Thestrals and break them in, since Hagrid obviously couldn't ride them and no other staff member wanted to have anything to do with the creatures they claimed were ugly, ill tempered and a bad omen.

"Where's Hagrid?" he asked, reaching for another biscuit.

"He's gone on an errand. He's picking up a few things for me, including Nicholas' stone."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Flamel's famed Philosopher's Stone. I still can't believe you bought an entire vault to hold that thing. It must look ridiculous, sitting there on the floor by itself."

"Would you have me keep it under my bed?"

"No. But covering it with other things might be a start. Anybody breaking into the vault would know that there was something special about that rock and take it. Anyway, why is Hagrid taking it out?"

Albus pursed his lips and stared at the porcelain jar. "I can't put my finger on it, but I have a bad feeling about leaving it at Gringott's. I'd feel much better having the stone nearby."

Severus sat up with another jerk. "You mean to bring the stone here? To Hogwarts?"

"Where else? I'd be close at hand to keep an eye on it, and so would the rest of the staff."

"Where do you propose to keep it? The Forest?"

"No. I've never been fond of the Forest at night or during rainfall. I know I would be too lazy to keep a proper eye on it outside."

"I'd keep an eye on it for you, headmaster."

Albus smiled. "I know you would. But I don't want to put it somewhere where we can't all share the responsibility of looking out for it. You have classes and a house to keep an eye on, not to mention Professor Quirrel."

"So you want to keep it inside the school?"

"Yes. I haven't quite finished putting together a plan for where and how to keep it safe, but I'll let you and the staff know once Hagrid gets back here with it."

Severus nodded and pushed himself up. "Merlin knows why anybody would want the thing. Having all the gold I could want wouldn't be bad—I could replace all the cauldrons and get everybody new beds—but living forever? I will never understand why people—including the Dark Lord—are so keen on the concept. Just having made it through these 29 years is nearly enough for me."

Albus sighed. "For most it's not an issue of living forever. Instead, for most—like in Tom's case—it's a fear of death."

"They could remain behind as ghosts."

"Ahh, but ghosts don't have the same abilities as living human beings do."

Severus shook his head. "I still find the idea absurd."

Albus smiled. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. I don't either to a certain extent. Death isn't something I've ever had a great fear of. Now, yellowish brown Bertie Bott's Beans, those I'm terrified of. Why they're always ear wax or vomit flavoured when I try them is beyond me. Anyway," Albus' smile turned into a grin and his eyes twinkled up at him. "You'll have a chance to get a taste of old age soon enough. The big thirty is just around the corner."

Severus scowled and rolled his eyes. The whole staff had been making a huge fuss out of their youngest colleague turning thirty this summer.

"I have a few more days of youth left, headmaster."

"Then please, go and enjoy them. But not too much. You need to keep your strength up for those thirties. I hear one stops being able to sprint up the stairs at ones usual speed. Old age will be a difficult adjustment, dear. It's best to rest up."

Pushing himself up and snagging another biscuit, Severus strode to the door and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving the headmaster laughing loudly in his office.


	27. Chapter 27

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 27

'There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle.'

- Albert Einstein

XXXXXX

Severus seriously considered locking himself in his room until the day was over. All day long people, elves, ghosts and a certain phoenix had been congratulating him and wiggling their eyebrows while making snide remarks about his old age.

Most of the professors had come back from their homes earlier than usual, since the headmaster wanted everyone to help in making a new safe hiding spot for the Philosopher's Stone.

The downside of it was that everywhere he turned, there was somebody there to poke fun at him because of his birthday.

The day had started with him waking up to find the usual bundle of presents by his feet.

He had received a book from the headmaster that he knew had cost him an arm and a leg, bags of sweets from Gabby, a collection of very expensive stirring rods from Minerva, bags of sugar biscuits and little cakes from Mixie and the other kitchen elves and an assortment of cards from most of the other staff members.

He usually only got something from the elves, the headmaster and Minerva, but this year, he had gotten a charmed card from Filius, an enormous card from Hagrid and a joint card signed by Charity Burbage, Poppy, Rolanda Hooch, a faint, wavy scrawl that said Sybill and a little note from Charity to say that Professor Binns also sent his regards but was obviously unable to sign the card.

The fact that he had gotten nothing from Sprout, Sinistra, Vector and Kettleburn didn't bother him a bit.

Just the fact that the others had remembered was quite touching.

His elf was almost more excited about the day than Severus. He had burst into tears as soon as Severus had woken up, stretched and kicked the old elf gently in the side and told him to wake up and see what life in his thirties would be like.

His elf kept blubbering, sobbing and laughing and hugging Severus until Severus wanted to shake him, telling him that thirty wasn't even a drop in the bucket of a wizard's life expectancy. But then he thought about how he had been quite sure that he'd never make it past ten, or seventeen, or twenty and realized that this was quite a big deal.

"Oh, this is happy day! Such happy day! Gorgy so proud that young master still here! So proud! Gorgy not wanting any gifts for Christmas anymore, young master! Having young master still here is gift enough."

Then Gorgon had hurried away into the classroom and come back with a very nicely wrapped gift that he had hidden there.

"Gorgon, you didn't have to get me anything!"

Gorgon scowled and waved his hands. "Open, open!"

Severus gently tore off the wrapping so they could later reuse it, and found himself staring at a photograph in a frame.

He had no idea when or how his elf had taken it, but just seeing it brought tears to his eyes.

It was a picture of him and his Slytherins sitting on the Quidditch pitch during practice. It must have been right at the beginning of practice since the Quidditch players were still milling around the bleachers.

The picture must have been from two years ago, since Tonks was still wearing her school uniform in the picture. Severus spied Leland sitting beside him and Carling gesturing and having a rather confrontational discussion with Marcus Flint. He thought maybe it had been from the day Carling had selected Marcus to be their captain. Ravenia was sitting just below Leland, a book open on her lap and Josh Montague was munching on a bread roll beside her. Spencer was bent over the box of Quidditch balls, ready to release them and Julian was yelling something to Evan Bole, who was sitting near the top of the bleachers with Miles, Draco and Luther Warrington.

He stared in awe at all of their faces, young and old. He regretted that not all of his Slytherins could be in the picture, but knew that they couldn't find a picture frame large enough for that.

He looked up at his elf. "Thank you, Gorgon. You know how much this means to me."

Gorgon smiled. "Gorgy wanted to find special gift for young master's thirtieth birthday. This is very special day. Gorgy just sad that Miss Lily not here to share it."

That brought a lump to Severus' throat, but he swallowed it. Evans would be the first to berate him for being sad on his birthday. Especially his thirtieth birthday.

So he carefully hung the picture of his Slytherins above his bed and put away the rest of his gifts before a terribly excited Gabby appeared, threw herself into his arms and screamed that she was so darn excited for him and that he had to get upstairs since everybody was waiting for him.

Upstairs, the whole staff had assembled for breakfast and he was greeted—mostly—with wide smiles and some tears—from the headmaster and Minerva. The table was the usual round table that they transfigured the head table into for holidays and Severus was given the seat of honor—the one facing the rest of the hall and providing the best scenery and relief from boring dinner conversation.

They ate cake for breakfast, sang him Happy Birthday—substituting in the words 'old man' in place of his name—and kept up a steady stream of jokes at his expense.

Filius leaned across the table and handed Severus everything he reached out for, insisting that an old man shouldn't be expected to exert himself in such a way, and Minerva had pulled out his seat for him and asked him if he'd like her to cut his cake for him, or if chewing was something he was still up for.

He blushed and scowled and glared at the lot of them, but was really very touched at the effort and enthusiasm most of his colleagues were putting into his birthday. Sprout, Sinistra and some others just sat there, tight lipped and staring firmly at their plates, but Severus ignored them.

When they were finished, he thanked them for their cards and gifts, and since he was an old man now, he shouldn't be expected to levitate all of the supplies from Hogsmeade up into the kitchens by himself, nor should he solely remain in charge of going all the way up to the Owlery twice a week to check on things.

Poppy had finished her glass of milk and promptly told him that in another thirty years, he could start complaining about his aging joints and waning magical energy, but not a day earlier.

Everybody laughed and Severus glared while they finished sending the dishes back down to the kitchen.

It was then that Albus looked up and grinned with delight and Severus turned just in time to see hundreds of owls stream through the open windows.

At first Severus thought they were letters from parents to Minerva, but knew that those were immediately flown to her office and not the Great Hall. Then he thought they were for the headmaster.

"What on earth did you order, headmaster? I didn't know there were this many muggle and wizarding subscriptions to subscribe to. And when the hell would you have time to read all this?"

The headmaster's eyes twinkled at him. "Ah, I don't believe they're for me, Severus."

And sure enough, the owls were all swooping over Severus' own head, dropping their envelopes in his lap.

He barely had time to pick up a bundle to check if they were really for him before another bundle rained down on him.

Minerva and Filius were both laughing at him and flicking their wands from time to time to bundle a handful of letters together.

When the owls had stopped coming, Severus was sitting in an enormous pile of bundles of letters, still hardly believing that they were all really addressed to him.

Minerva flicked her wand at the piles and sent them flying towards his room, before giving him a shove and telling him to go read them.

Still in shock, Severus wound his way down to his room where his elf had flattened himself against the far wall, wand drawn and eyes wide at the enormous amounts of mail flying through the door.

"What going on, young master?!"

"It's alright, Gorgon! At least, I think it is. They're letters, elf."

"For young master?"

"Yes."

"From who?"

"I haven't the faintest idea, elf. Grab some at random and open them."

He grabbed one letter and tore the envelope open and pulled out a light green, sparkly card.

Flipping it open, a paper snake flew out towards him, hissing and coiling around before sinking back into the pages. Then writing appeared on the green paper.

_Happy 30th Birthday, Professor Snape! I hope you have a wonderful day! Your Slytherin, Emma Treagle._

He opened another one, this one a normal, green muggle card. Opening it, he read the message written in it in huge letters.

_Happy Birthday, sir!! How does it feel to be old? If you need help climbing up the stairs from the dungeons, let us know. We can get you a cane for Christmas. Don't worry, we'd make it a green one! Your Slytherins Carling and Leland. _

_PS Leland wants you to know that it was me (Carling) who wrote most of this card. He did the drawing._

He flipped the card around, and on the back, he found a hand drawn picture of Leland and Carling, both of them grinning and Carling standing with a broom on one shoulder. It was breathtakingly realistic.

Gently putting it down, he opened another one. This one had been made from official ministry paper, and the ministrial crest had been decorated and tweaked until it represented the Slytherin crest. Severus grinned and opened it, knowing who it was from.

_Happy Birthday, Professor! Like what I did to the ministrial crest? I thought you'd appreciate that. Have a wonderful birthday and enjoy old age. I myself get to bask in my twenties for another three and a half years! Oh, the joys of youth! Your Slytherin, Cameron._

His elf was laughing and crying while reading the cards, and suddenly gave a shout as the card he was holding exploded into a shower of purple sparks, before reforming into the card. Holding it gingerly, Gorgon tossed it over.

"Young master best be looking at that one carefully."

Severus grinned and cast a freezing charm on the card before flipping it open.

_Happy 30th, sir! Hope the card didn't scare you into old age…oh, wait, you're already there, aren't you? Have an absolutely fabulous day and I'll see you next Sunday at my parents for dinner! Your Hard Studying Almost Auror Slytherin, Tonks._

Putting the card back into its envelope—which would contain it once the freezing charm wore off—he grabbed another one. This one was bright red and turned green for a moment wherever he touched it.

_Happy Old Age, Professor! Oh, I meant Happy Birthday! How does it feel to be thirty? Father refuses to answer the question and seemed really irritated that you're only thirty. Mother wishes you a happy birthday too! Have a great day, eat lots of cake (feel free to send me some) and keep my bed clear for September! Your 'Little Snake', Draco_

His elf and him spent hours reading the rest of his cards. Every single one of his Slytherins young and old had sent him a card. Some of them were plain, muggle cards and others were charmed wizarding cards. Some of them just wished him a happy birthday and others had long, sarcastic messages.

Severus turned on the radio in the common room and turned on the speaker in his room and sat on the floor with Gorgon, reading the cards together and grinning over the ingenuity of some and the sarcasm of others.

Every card they finished reading, they carefully put into the boxes where Severus kept other drawings and little gifts his Slytherins had given him over the years.

Once they were finished, they took the best cards up to the headmaster to show him, calling up Gabby and Myrtle to come look as well while Fawkes peered over Dumbledore's shoulder and constantly complained that he couldn't see the card well enough from his angle.

Once they were finished laughing and smiling over the cards, Dumbledore told him that he hated to do business on his birthday, but they had to get the staff together to start discussing how to deal with the Philosopher's Stone—which currently sat in the lower drawer of the headmaster's desk.

The staff spent the rest of the day discussing where to hide the stone and what measures to take to protect it, while Severus endured endless displays of having his chair pulled out for him, having them offer to do hearing aid charms on his ears when he asked the headmaster to repeat himself, and having them all frown at his head and ask him if he was sure those weren't grey hairs near his temple.

He put up with it, knowing they weren't being cruel and they meant it all in good fun, and really, it was their way of expressing their affection towards their youngest and sometimes difficult colleague.

Once they were finished, Severus went back down to his room and was nearly scared into an early grave when Myrtle suddenly popped out of his sink and demanded that he get into the kitchen right away.

Once he got there, he was greeted with another rendition of Happy Birthday, this time sung in a mixture of Elfish and English and got another enormous cake that the elves had spent all day making.

Gabby was covered in icing by the time she was finished cutting it up and floating pieces over to everyone and Mixie burst into silent tears when Severus thanked her for the extra effort, mouthing 'thirty' over and over again. Myrtle was squealing and zooming above everybody's heads, quickly having gotten over the fact that her deathday cakes were never quite as big as Severus' birthday cake was this time around. Fawkes had appeared and settled on Severus' shoulder, nipping him on the ear.

_"You know, I honestly never thought you'd make it to thirty. Your generation hasn't been doing too well in terms of longevity, but I have to say I'm very pleased that you seem to be dodging the same fate."_

_"Are you done being a sap, bird?"_

_"Really!__ I wasn't being overly emotional! I was just saying that I'm quite pleased you're still here. Whether you like it or not, you're a part of my family and I would like to keep my family around for as long as possible."_

_"Oh, stop it, bird, you'll make me start sobbing in my apron."_

_"You're not wearing an apron and be quiet! Honestly, I was just—"_

_"I know, Fawkes. Thank you. And for what it's worth, I've long ago started appreciating the fact that you're immortal. It makes friendships a lot easier."_

His elf and Ruddy very quickly got tipsy off the butterbeer they handed out and started singing loud, lewd Elfish drinking songs that Gabby and Severus sang along to, despite Mixie's look of disapproval and Fawkes sniff, saying that he was thirty and not a kid anymore and was allowed to sing whatever inappropriate song he wanted to.

It was past midnight when the Baron poked his head in and declared that they should all get to bed and stop making a racket.

As Severus helped a stumbling, still singing Gorgon along the corridors to the dungeons, they were both surprised to see the headmaster coming towards them.

"Headmaster! Why are you still up?"

"I was just coming to help everybody find their proper beds."

Severus grinned. "Ruddy might need somebody to stun him before he stops singing, but the Baron is making sure everybody is moving along."

"In that case, let me walk with you."

Together, they walked down the dark corridors and into the dungeons, neither of them needing any additional light to see by. Severus had superb night vision and both of them knew the castle like the backs of their hands.

Once Severus had forced his elf to drink some water and then gently put him on the foot of his bed and covered him with his blanket, he came back to where the headmaster was examining his book shelf.

"Thank you for the book, headmaster. I'm going to start it tomorrow morning."

Albus smiled. "Tell me what you think. I can order the second and third volumes if you want them."

Severus nodded, smiling gratefully. He heard the headmaster sigh softly.

"Merlin! Thirty! You're thirty years old, my boy."

"I've been a thorn in your side for almost exactly twenty years."

Albus gently put his hands on Severus face and stared at him, his eyes soft. "Never a thorn. Maybe a minor irritation at times, but never a thorn."

Then he leaned forward and placed a kiss on Severus' forehead, before pulling him into a tight hug.

"Congratulations. You should be proud of yourself. I know I am and I know Lily would be too."

Severus rested his head on the old man's shoulders. "I wish she were here. She would have been the worst with the jokes and snide comments. Only she'd have started about a week ago and not stopped until a year from now."

Albus chuckled and released him, pushing a strand of Severus' hair behind his ear.

"I know how much you miss her. Today was a hard day, but tomorrow will be easier."

Severus nodded. "I know. At least I still have most of my family and my home."

Albus smiled. "Always, my boy. Always. Maybe not in physical form, but in your heart."

The headmaster took a step towards the door. "Good night, and happy birthday, my child."

"Good night, headmaster."

XXXXXX

Flicking his hand with irritation at the winged keys zooming around him, Severus glared at Filius, who stood on a stool in the center of the room, conducting with his wand.

"Professor, I know how impressed you are with the damn keys but the rest of us can't work unless you freeze them for the time being!" he yelled through the room.

Filius shot him a wide grin and waved his wand at the keys, which started slowing down. "Terribly sorry, Severus. Terribly sorry. Has Quirinus brought his troll in yet?"

Severus sighed. "No."

The troll was lying stunned by the trap door and Severus was in no mood to bring it down at the moment.

Quirrel had apparently bought the troll off someone but was too terrified to actually go get it, so Hagrid and Severus had gone to stun the thing and bring it back to school. Once here, Quirrel had fainted at the sight of the enormous, disgusting creature and Hagrid and Severus had been forced to bring it all the way to the third floor corridor.

Suffice it to say that both Hagrid and Severus had had enough of the smelly beast for a while and had left it near the trap door for later.

A dull thud from the next room attracted his attention and he ducked through the slowing keys to see Minerva frowning at one of the giant black knights, which was stomping its hooves and nearly crushing the pawn before it.

Waving her wand at it in a complicated pattern, she gave it a hard glare, and the knight settled.

"Almost done, Minerva?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Easy for you to say. All you had to do was set up a table and drop some bottles and a piece of paper on it."

He drew himself up, feeling insulted. "I had to actually brew all those things!"

"You brewed nettle wine?"

"Fine, not all of them. But I had to come up with the actual riddle, and that took more time than charming some damn keys or lugging sacks of Devil's Snare in here."

Minerva smiled. "I am impressed with the riddle."

Severus shrugged, but he was really pleased with himself. He had originally thought of making a complex ward that would require certain diagnostic charms to properly identify and would have hidden triggers that renewed it when touched.

But then he had given it more thought and realized that if a wizard was highly trained, they could get through such an obstacle.

But making an obstacle that required pure brains and logic was something that might stump even the most highly trained and qualified wizard. There was only so much somebody could learn out of books.

So he'd sat down and played around with a riddle for a few hours until he had come up with something tricky enough to keep somebody with mediocre intelligence scratching their heads.

He'd put the bottles of the potions into the room he had been assigned, but Dumbledore was still sitting in the enormous room at the end and Severus couldn't put up the protective fires until the headmaster was out.

He turned in a slow circle and studied the silent chess pieces standing on the enormous chess board and was also quite impressed with this.

"I do have to say I'm impressed by this as well. Not just anybody could get across a chess board. It too requires brains."

Minerva shot him a pleased smile. "Let's just say, I took a leaf out of your book."

Severus smiled smugly and went back to studying the chess pieces, his hands positively itching with the desire to play a life size version of chess. It was something that he hadn't even dreamed about.

"We should come down and play a game one night."

Minerva glanced towards the open doors at either end and then grinned at him. "If you think you can outsmart a Gryffindor."

Severus laughed. "In my sleep, Minerva. In my sleep."

He heard a yelp from behind him and spun around with his wand out, but then heard Pomona yelling at Quirrel to keep away from the Devil's Snare and worry about his damn troll, so he relaxed.

Leaving Minerva to fuss with the gigantic chess pieces, he stepped through into the empty room that would house the troll, then his own room and then into the large chamber at the end where Dumbledore sat on the ground, staring at the blank wall.

"Minerva, Filius and myself are nearly finished, headmaster. Professor Sprout is just about ready to spread out the Devil's Snare and that will just leave Quirrel's troll."

Albus smiled at him over his shoulder. "Very good."

"How is your own idea coming, sir?"

"Slowly, Severus, slowly. I have a hint of an idea, a quite clever idea if I may say so, but I'll have to do some more research."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Oh, no, that's alright, dear. You have lots to worry about. Besides, such little puzzles intrigue me."

Nodding, Severus went back out and wound his way through the different rooms until he was near the trap door. The bags of Devil's Snare were rustling and shaking, but they had been charmed closed for now.

"Quirrel!" Severus shouted up through the open trap door.

"Y-yes Professor Snape?"

"Where's your damn troll?"

"I-it's r-rright here, sir. Where y-you l-l-l-eft it."

"Are you intending on getting it down here anytime soon?" he demanded.

He heard a squeak and the shuffle of feet and knew Quirrel was backing away from the troll and the door. Cursing under his breath, Severus lifted his wand.

"Hagrid?"

He heard a shuffle and then Hagrid's face appeared above him. "Yes, sir?"

"I'll lift the troll as much as I can and you need to push it towards the trap door as hard as you can."

"Right, sir. Just look out below."

Severus send a levitation charm upwards and immediately felt the strain on his wand from the weight of the creature. He heard Hagrid grunting and swearing as a body was slowly pushed across the floor.

Finally, it rolled through the trap door, landing with a hard thud on the floor. The entire chamber shook and Filius squeaked from the next room. Running feet could be heard and moments later, Minerva appeared behind him, wand drawn and her eyes wide.

Seeing the troll, she relaxed, but rolled her sleeves up.

"Alright, on the count of three."

Pomona had jumped back into the dark chamber to help, and the four of them levitated the troll and slowly managed to drag the thing from one room to the other, moving the chess pieces out of the way and having to enlarge some of the doors, but finally getting it into the large, empty room it was supposed to be.

Dropping it with another thud, they all took a moment to collect themselves, their arms aching and sweat clinging to their faces.

Wrinkling his nose, Filius was the first to excuse himself, quickly followed by Pomona. Minerva went back to rearrange her chess pieces, and Severus stuck his head into Albus' room.

"Headmaster, we should call it a day. It's nearly dinner time anyway."

Dumbledore got up and went out with Severus, transfiguring the Philosopher's stone into a tiny nondescript rock that he left in the corner. It wasn't the perfect disguise, but it would do for now. He still had some thinking to do.

When they had left the last chamber and were in Severus' chamber, Severus waved his wand at the far door and erected a protective black fire across the door.

Moving out of the room, he repeated the motion, changing it slightly and watching as purple fire erupted to cover the empty doorway.

Severus ducked out of the next room, slammed the door over the purple fire and Albus paused to flick his wand at the troll to enervate it before they moved on.

They paused to pick up Minerva and shut those doors and magically sealed them, before moving into Filius' room. Filius was waiting by the next doorway. Just before they passed through, Flitwick waved his wand at the keys and they started flying around again.

Finally they passed the bags of Devil's Snare and they each levitated themselves out of the empty chamber.

Pomona was waiting for them, and once they were out, she leaned into the hole and Vanished the bags surrounding the Devil's Snare. The sound of creeping, slithering vines drifted upwards and Severus was damn glad he wasn't going back down anytime soon.

Then he heard a strange whining noise behind him and turned around, wondering what on earth was making such a noise. The other four around him were also turning around.

Filius let out a yelp, Minerva gasped, stepped back and nearly fell into the trap door and Severus yanked his wand up, his mind already half forming a stunning spell.

"It's awright, Professor!" Hagrid called. "It's jus' Fluffy!"

Severus stared at the huge, snarling hellhound straining on the leash Hagrid had it on, its three heads snapping and growling at them.

"Fluffy?"

"Yessir! That's 'is name."

"You called such a monstrosity Fluffy?!"

Hagrid shot him a confused look over one of the snapping heads and Severus was about to go off on a rant when Albus gingerly stepped between them.

"We should be getting to the Great Hall. The elves will have our hides if they have to keep charming dinner hot while they wait. Hagrid, chain Fluffy to the floor or wall, which ever you think is best and let's leave him to explore his new home for now. Please shut the trap door before you leave. Severus, dinner awaits."

Severus grabbed Dumbledore's arm as the man went to sweep past the razor sharp teeth snapping inches from him and yanked the headmaster back behind him.

"Hagrid, move that thing over as far as you can."

He kept his wand on it and refused to release the headmaster's sleeve until Hagrid had moved the hellhound a safe distance away. Then he backed out of the room, keeping a chuckling Albus behind him and not lowering his wand until he was out of the room.


	28. Chapter 28

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 28

'Humans do have an amazing capacity for believing what they choose and excluding that which is painful.'

- Spock to Kirk, _Star Trek_: 'And the Children Shall Lead'

XXXXXX

"And horned toads?"

"Having enough."

Severus checked off horned toads on the enormous list in his hands. He had trained all of his students to always tick off whatever amount of something they removed from the stores, but ticks have been known to appear in wrong slots and first years couldn't tell the difference between a scoop of something and a shovel full.

"And lacewing flies?"

"Uhm, not looking fresh enough."

"How was Flatley's last batch? I don't recall."

"Master Flatley's was good, but late. Master Xavier's wasn't best quality."

"We'll get them from Flatley. If we order them now and keep a wand at his throat, they'll be here by the time school starts."

Hearing a knock on his door, Severus and Gorgon both looked up, sticking their heads out of the storage room.

"Headmaster! Please, come in."

"I didn't want to disturb you if you are busy."

"Not very. We have some inventory to finish, but it can wait."

Severus tossed the scroll down and went to sit at one of the desks. The headmaster was smiling as he stared around and slowly lowered himself in the desk beside his.

"Merlin, it's been a long time since I've done potions in here."

Severus smiled. "Feel free to drop in anytime. I'm sure I can find you a partner that would be willing to put up with you."

Albus chuckled and leaned back. "I actually came to discuss something rather important with you. I thought you'd bring it up, but perhaps the slight chaos over the past few weeks has made it pass your notice."

Severus frowned. "Has the ministry complained about something? Is there a new moronic policy coming into effect?" He rubbed at the tip of his index finger, trying to get some ink off it.

"Oh, no, no. Nothing of that sort."

"Then what is it?" The damn spot wouldn't fade. He pulled out his wand and siphoned the ink off.

"Harry will be starting school in September."

"Who's Harry?" he asked, inspecting his other fingers and making a mental note to toss that quill out. The tip was practically ruined already and the damn thing got more ink on his hands than the parchment.

"Harry Potter."

He jerked up at the sound of the name. For a wild second, he thought the headmaster had said James Potter, but then he rewound the conversation and froze.

Harry Potter.

Potter's little brat.

Evans' son.

"He's coming here?"

"Yes."

"To Hogwarts?"

"Yes."

"In September?"

"Yes."

Severus sat back in the chair, feeling like somebody had yanked the ground out from under him.

He hadn't thought about the brat in years. He knew he had been placed somewhere safe and raised outside of the wizarding world, but asides from that, he hadn't interested himself with knowing anything about him.

Oh, he'd heard muttered comments here and there about the Boy-Who-Lived, but he had been so busy with his own house and staying mostly in the school that he had completely forgotten about the boy.

The boy who had lived because his mother had died.

"What do you think about it?"

Severus scoffed. "What does it matter what I think? He's coming, isn't he?"

"It matters to me. I would like to know what to expect."

"I think we all know what to expect from someone with Potter's genes in him. He'll be an arrogant idiot from the moment he steps foot into the school until he steps out of it."

"That's not fair, Severus. You don't even know the boy."

He felt himself getting angry. "I don't have to! I know who his damn father was!"

"And you know who his mother was. He's a part of Lily. Don't let yourself forget that."

Severus clenched his jaw and covered his face with his hands. "I don't know what's worse, him being half Potter or him being half Evans. I might tolerate him being one or the other, but both? It's a joke, headmaster! A damn joke!" He slammed a fist onto the desk he was leaning on and glared at the blackboard. "I hate the boy because of who his father was and I hate the boy for reminding me of his mother. There's nothing about him that will make any of this okay. Ever."

"I would like you to give him a chance. He's been raised very differently than James was, and even if he has parts of James' personality, he might be completely different than the Potter you knew. Secondly, I know the thought of having your dead best friend's son walking around the same corridors that you once walked with her is painful, but none of that is the boy's fault. I don't ask that you shower him with affection, but I ask that you give him a chance."

Hardly having paid attention to a word the headmaster had said, Severus had latched onto one little phrase which suddenly brought back words from long ago.

_"James and I have been fighting like cats and dogs over who's going to be Harry's godfather. He wants the mutt. I said no."_

_"Well, Potter has never been known for having much of a brain. I'd have expected a suggestion like that."_

_"Be nice. Anyway, I told him I wouldn't be completely against the idea, if you promised me something."_

_"Me? How do I play into this lovely family debate?"_

_"I don't care who gets the official title of being his godfather, but I want you to promise me that you'll watch out for him."_

_"For Potter's son?"_

_"Yes. For Harry. My son. You've already protected him long enough for me to bring him into this world, and I want you to promise that if anything happens to either James or me, that you'll protect him. I don't ask that you love him or even like him, because I know what you think about James, but I want you to promise me you'll protect him."_

_"Alright, Evans.__ I promise. I don't promise to ever babysit or to coddle him or hold his hand when he stubs his toe, but nobody will harm a hair on his head if I can help it." "Thank you, Sev! That's all I want! I don't trust Sirius to do it, but I trust you."_

"Severus? Are you alright?"

Shaking himself out of his memories, Severus glanced at the headmaster. "I'm fine. I just remembered something. Something I can't say I'm glad to remember, but I promised."

Albus frowned. "Mind enlightening me?"

He sighed, cursing Evans for her damn forethought. She obviously hadn't foreseen this particular sequence of events, but nevertheless, here they were.

"Just after Potter convinced Evans to make Black the boy's godfather, she asked me to make her a promise."

"What was it?"

"That if anything happened to her or Potter, I would look out for the brat. She didn't trust the mutt to do it, and looking at what that filthy traitor did, her instincts were right on the mark. I shudder to think what would have happened if he wouldn't have been caught and would have been granted custody of the boy. Anyway, she made me promise, and I did."

"Which means?"

Severus sighed, cursing a certain Gryffindor and the fact that he had taught her to think ahead and plan for all contingencies.

"Which means that I won't promise I'll like the brat, I refuse to promise that I will put him on the pedestal that his damn father occupied for so long, and I refuse to bow to the greatness that is a Potter, but I will protect him. I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe from the moment he steps into this school until the day I die."

Albus smiled. "That's all I ask, Severus."

"I'm not doing this for him."

"I know that. But for now, it's good enough. Harry will probably attract quite a bit of attention once he rejoins the wizarding world—"

"Basking in the light of his own adoring throng and he isn't even on the train yet."

"—and I think having you keep an eye on him will serve him well in the long run," Albus finished, ignoring the snide remark Severus had inserted.

Severus clenched his jaw and stared at the blackboard, despising the irony of the whole situation.

"How the hell am I going to do this, headmaster?"

"Do what?"

"How the hell do I stand up there for seven years and have him stare at me? The combination of the person I hated the most and the person I cared for the most? It's a damn joke. And not a funny one."

"Try to remember that Lily did genuinely love James, and we both know Lily had brains and didn't often make stupid decisions."

Severus scoffed and let his head fall onto the desk with a dull thud.

"Incidentally, speaking of Lily, I wanted to discuss another matter with you."

He didn't raise his head. "What?"

"How much can the staff and I tell him about your relationship with his mother?"

Severus jerked his head up and stared at the headmaster. "Nothing!"

Albus frowned, taken aback. "Why? The boy knows next to nothing about either of his parents. There will be plenty of people here who can fill him in, one of them being of course you."

That anger had come surging back and Severus wanted to break the desk in half.

"It's none of his business!"

"Severus—"

"No! It's none of Potter's business! I will not have another seven years of being laughed at and ridiculed because the most popular girl chose to be friends with me. I will not have him ruin the best memories of my life with his arrogance and hatred."

"I don't think Harry will be angry to find out about your friendship—"

"He's going to be a Gryff, headmaster! The most popular, wonderful Gryff in centuries! He won't even have to work for any of it, not like his father did! He'll be the shining star of the school, and you don't think he'll have a problem learning that his mother's best friend was a Slytherin? That the person she spent most of her time with was—was _Snivellus_? The person his father ridiculed and treated like dirt for seven years? I'm not going to have him ruin what was one of the best things to ever happen to me! What Evans and I had was none of that Potter's business, and it's none of this Potter's business!"

Albus sighed and wearily leaned back in his chair, staring at Severus.

"You've never even met the boy and already you're painting him with the same brush as James."

"I can paint him whatever I want!" Severus realized he was yelling, but he really didn't care. "The stupid brat should have died that day, but instead, he took away the only real friend I've ever had! I loved her, headmaster! I acknowledge that I made a promise that I will die before breaking, and I acknowledge that he has to come here for me to carry out that promise, but I'll be damned if have anything else to do with him! Everyday that he's alive, he's a reminder of who died to make that happen, and just to make everything even better, I have to keep him alive. And to top it all off, he's Potter's son and already a celebrity! I have hated him for ten years and I will leave before I allow you to start saying I can't."

"Severus, please calm down. I know how upsetting this is for you."

"Then quit talking about that damn brat to me!" He roared. He strode towards the door, flinging desks aside with a wave of his hand, sending them smashing into the walls and ignoring his elf diving for cover.

He stopped before the door and looked back at the old man sitting at his desk, not having flinched from the violent destruction.

"Nobody will harm the boy as long as I live, but that is all I will ever do for him. If you ever cared about me, you will do me the favour of telling everybody in the castle and in Hogsmeade that my friendship with Evans is none of anybody's business and will not be discussed with anybody, least of all Potter."

Without waiting for a reply, he slammed the door shut behind him and rushed out of the dungeons. He hurried up staircases and tore around corners, ignoring surprised yelps as he nearly ran over some of his colleagues.

He didn't stop until he had reached the astronomy tower and leapt out of the window. Balancing along the roof, he stopped when he came to the same spot that he and Evans had sat at so often before.

Sinking onto the roof, he pulled his knees up to his chest and stared at the lake in the distance.

After he sent a warding spell towards the astronomy window to make sure that nobody would come out, he finally let the lump in his throat dissolve and allowed the tears to stream down his face.

He angrily wiped them off with his sleeve, cursing the fact that a damn Gryff could still make him cry after a decade of lying silent in her grave.

"Sometimes I hate you, Evans. I really do. But those are usually the days I love you more too," he muttered.

"I'll keep my promise, you stupid Gryff. You knew I would, that's why you made me make it. But you better appreciate the hell I'm going to go through for the next seven years."

He leaned back against the sun warmed roof, staring up at the sky, unbelievably grateful that there weren't any clouds up there.

"You're damn lucky you were my best friend. There's no way I'd do this for anybody else."

As he lay there, gradually feeling the pain receding, he pushed aside all thoughts about Potter—the dead one and the living one—and the headmaster, who was probably helping his elf put his classroom back together.

He clung to the only part of this whole mess that mattered to him.

He had made her a promise.

And he intended to keep it.

XXXXXX

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

Severus waved Filch into his office before tossing his quill onto his lesson plan.

"Starting in September, we will be changing our night time routines, Mr. Filch."

Argus raised an eyebrow. They didn't really have a night time routine in common as of the moment, as far as he knew. Severus did routine bed checks at random times of the night (to prevent planned sneak outs) on his own house, and Filch and Mrs. Norris wandered around the rest of the castle at random times.

"I will be joining you in monitoring the rest of the castle. I will be checking all four houses and I will aid you in monitoring the rest of the school, and Hagrid will do the grounds. You are to report to me the instant you see something unusual or catch anybody out of bed, wherever they might be, and whoever they might be. Do you understand?"

"Right, sir. Do you mean the _instant_ that I—"

"That very instant, Mr. Filch. I don't care if I've just fallen into bed after being up for two days straight. The instant you see something amiss or catch a night time wanderer, you get me."

"Understood, sir. Will do."

XXXXXX

"I can't believe you haven't heard about the fuss. Everybody in the ministry has been speaking of nothing else for months."

Severus shrugged, swirling the last bit of firewhiskey around in his glass. He'd manage to Vanish some of it while Lucius wasn't looking, but knew it would look suspicious if it all suddenly disappeared.

"I don't concern myself with that brat. I never have."

"Oh, believe me, neither do I. After all, that brat is the reason behind our Lord's fall."

"Which is precisely why I don't want to discuss this any further."

Lucius chuckled. "You always hated his father, didn't you? I can't imagine what life will be like for you. Looking at the filth that brought down our master and knowing that his father humiliated you for y—"

"Lucius, I didn't come here to discuss the Boy-Who-Muddled-Up-Our-Plans."

"I know that. I'm just saying it's remarkable that you've forgotten about the Potter boy for so long. He's been put into most revised or recent history textbooks and everybody knows his name. Did you know he's got a scar, apparently?"

"What? What scar?" Severus demanded, greatly irritated.

"Rumor has it it's the exact shape of a lightening bolt."

"How did he get it?"

"Oh, it's all speculation, of course, but they say it's from when the killing curse rebounded off him onto the Dark Lord." Lucius tilted his head, frowning at the mantle and apparently lost in thought. "You know, the more I think about it, it's really his mother's fault, isn't it? Stupid mudblood whore."

Severus squeezed the glass so hard he nearly crushed it and managed to lower it to the table beside him with great difficulty.

He wanted to grab Lucius and slam his head into the very mantle he was staring at while smiling to himself.

It wasn't Evans' fault.

It was a combination of that filthy mutt's fault—without whose betrayal, the Dark Lord would have never found them—and that stupid brat's fault—who's very existence was the reason the prophecy applied to Evans and made her a target in the first place. If he had never been born, none of this would have happened. That other family—the Longbottoms—would have been targeted, that Cunningham moron would have died protecting their little brat, who would have helped destroy the Dark Lord, and they would have the same peaceful existence they had now, only he would still have Evans.

Lucius was looking at him darkly glaring at the carpet and seemed to rethink his decision to stay on the topic.

"So anyway, you'll be pleased to know that you'll recognize quite a few last names in the house next year."

"Oh?" He already knew Draco would be starting of course, but he hadn't bothered looking over the rest of the list, knowing he couldn't stand to see Potter's name in actual writing.

"Yes. Crabbe's son, Goyle's son and Nott's son will all be starting."

Severus thought about how quickly he and his elf could sneak out of the castle and run somewhere. Brazil, the North Pole, an island in the middle of the ocean, he didn't care. There was no way he was going to survive the upcoming year.

"All of them are the same age?"

"Well, not exactly, obviously. But yes, ironically enough, they were all born in the same year."

Yippee for them. This was just what he needed. The stupid inbreed genetic disasters that spawned from Crabbe and Goyle and the sadistic, sick brat that came from Nott. And of course, they would all be in his house. Wonderful.

At least Draco had a brain and was proving to be every bit the Slytherin Severus wanted him to be.

"Draco is already well acquainted with the Goyles and the Crabbes, obviously, but Nott has always been a bit of a strange one."

Severus bit his tongue before he could blurt out that the reason Lucius had never gotten along with Nott was because Nott actually stood up to him and fought over who got to claim which muggle or non-pure-blood wizarding child as toys for the evening. Crabbe and Goyle were both pathetic fighters and had never dared to stand up to Lucius.

He realized he had missed part of Lucius' prattling and started paying attention again. He wouldn't get any money out of the bastard if he didn't appear fascinated by his story telling.

"—quite unfortunate. I've never met the boy, but Nott says he's weak. I told him eleven year olds can't be expected to show the same magical strength as adults, obviously, but he still claims the boy is soft for his age. Cries and whines constantly, doesn't like to play Quidditch and doesn't make any effort to entertain guests when they entertain."

Severus was starting to feel that coming to Hogwarts would probably be the best thing that had ever happened to Nott's son. His suspicions were only confirmed when Lucius continued.

"I told him years ago to start using a firmer hand with the boy—like I do with Draco—and that he'll see the results he wants, just like I have. But Nott claims the boy gets even softer the more he disciplines him."

Severus knew that 'disciplining' probably involved more of the Vindico curse than time-outs and lectures.

"I told him we were having similar problems with Draco, but a combination of sending him to live with you and applying a firmer hand has worked wonders. The boy really is starting to be the Malfoy I want him to be. After I told Nott, he insisted I ask that Theodore be allowed to remain at school with you."

"During the school year?"

"Nott doesn't believe a few months of school will be enough. He wants you to keep the boy for a few years, then send him back and let Nott see the results. I told him of course you'd take him. These Slytherins more than any others we've raised are our future."

More like canon fodder to be used and discarded once the Dark Lord returned, but Severus kept that thought to himself.

"Quite right, Lucius."

"I told Nott you'd be the best choice to raise the boy. You know more than anybody how to raise Slytherins properly, and more importantly, you know what they need to be taught about the Dark Lord."

Severus didn't allow the smile he felt to touch his lips.

"Of course I do, Lucius." More than you'll ever know, he added silently.


	29. Chapter 29

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 29

A/N: At last, the time we've all been looking forward to is here. No, I'm not talking about school starting for those poor saps among us who are still in the clutches of getting 'edumacuatiated'. I'm talking about our celebrity Gryff finally starting school. I didn't realize how many little scenes I wanted to do from a Slyth perspective, so these two chapters only go up to about November. We have a long, long haul ahead of us.

Enjoy!

Tia'RaHu – you hit the nail on the head concerning the source of Sprout's attitude concerning Slytherins. She knows that many Death Eaters escaped justice and that many of them were Slytherins. Blaming Severus for this isn't logical, but he's the only Slytherin Death Eater she has nearby to blame. Additionally, she is still upset with Severus for having left Hogwarts and thrown away the life he could have had. She expected more from him and he disappointed her. It's the same reason why Sinistra and Kettleburn have been cold towards him since he started teaching at the school.

'The shadow past is shaped by everything that never happened.'

- 'Fugitive Pieces' by Anne Michaels

XXXXXX

School Year, 1991 – 1992

Hogwarts School

'Oh, you may not think I'm pretty

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me….'

Stabbing the table cloth with the tips of his fork, Severus narrowed his eyes at the old hat and resisted the urge to really make it eat itself.

He refused to look at the line of first years standing just inside the door.

Today could possibly be the start of the worst years of his life. And that was saying something.

Right at this moment, he was hungry, the damn hat was singing, Quirrel was twitching next to him and Potter's brat was standing in the same room as him.

He barely paid attention as sorting started. Every time the hat shouted out his house's name, he glanced up enough to memorize the new face walking towards the house table, but he couldn't for the life of him remember their names.

He did give a start when he heard the name 'Longbottom' being called. He had to blink twice in order to make himself believe he wasn't seeing things.

There was no way that the fat lump of a boy who was quaking in his shoes and nearly did a nose dive onto the floor before reaching the stool was the son of two of the best aurors of Severus' generation.

Then he remembered that the boy hadn't been raised by either of them and he momentarily felt a rush of anger towards Bella, but then suppressed it. After the hat had placed the boy into Gryffindor, Severus thought that maybe, the boy still had a chance. As long as the hat didn't just put him into the house because of his parents.

He forced himself to pay attention when Draco's name was called and the boy's eyes slid sideways to catch his before he sat down, but Severus narrowed his eyes at him, letting him know if he made a scene or tried to run for it before the hat announced its decision, he would personally force him into Hufflepuff house.

Just as he had told Draco a million times, he needn't have worried. The hat was barely on his head when it yelled out 'Slytherin' and Draco grinned smugly and sauntered off to the table he had sat at for years already. Unsurprisingly, his house mates just rolled their eyes at his smugness, mouthing 'what a surprise'.

Before Severus could resume stabbing the table cloth with his fork and making Quirrel twitch with every stab, he heard 'Nott, Theodore' being called out.

Curious, he looked up and saw the second surprise of the day. Just like Longbottom, Theodore Nott also looked and acted nothing like his parents. Or, in Theodore's case, his father. Severus wasn't sure when his mother had died, but Mrs. Nott had been an arrogant, cold bitch the few times he had met her and he hadn't been the least bit saddened to learn from Lucius that she was dead.

Theodore had a twitchy, shy look about him and kept his face down as he shuffled to the stool and sat down. Moments later, he was put into Slytherin house. The boy's face had visibly paled and he went over to the table and perched onto the very end of it, as if he thought somebody would bite him.

Oh, Severus had his work cut out for him with that one.

He noted with some amusement that the Baron had floated over and sat down beside Draco, forcing a grimacing Adrian to move down and push Josh Montague along to avoid being sat on by the ghost. Draco looked less than pleased as the Baron no doubt launched into a long, droning speech about how proud he was that Draco was in the house and how he'd do them all proud and blah, blah, blah.

Then he heard Minerva call out "Potter, Harry!" and his head whipped around before he could stop himself…..

And James Potter walked across the floor to sit on the stool.

Severus realized he'd dropped his fork onto the floor and Quirrel had jumped at the sound, but he couldn't stop staring.

He thought he'd gone back in time. But that wouldn't make any sense since he'd skipped out on his own school year start of term feasts.

Not to mention that he wouldn't be sitting at the head table if he were a first year.

Then Quirrel was waving his fork under his nose with a shaking hand and Severus grabbed it before the moron stabbed him in the eye and came back to the present.

That wasn't James Potter.

It was his little brat.

He realized the hat was taking forever deciding what house to put the golden boy into and Severus immediately started desperately wishing 'Not in my house, not in my house'. He didn't want James Potter in his house. He didn't want to have to see him every single day. He didn't want to listen to him laugh at him, make fun of him, and sneer at him every single day. He had finally found some peace in his life and he wouldn't let James take it away from him again. Not again. Never, never again.

He felt somebody touching his hand and he jerked back, blinking at the headmaster, who was staring at him with concern.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You were nearly hyperventilating. You may go back down to the dungeons, if you wish. I'll get Mr. Higgs to bring the students down once sorting is finished."

Severus shook his head and clenched his jaw, ashamed of himself.

He wasn't a scared, quiet little boy anymore. He had learned how to be tough and strong and how to stand up for himself.

He could handle James Potter. Sure he could.

Just then, the hat shouted out 'Gryffindor' and Severus nearly let his head fall onto the table with relief. Thank Merlin!

He watched as the boy took off the hat and placed it on the stool and went over to the Gryffindor table, which had erupted into cheers.

Good. Let them cheer. They already had the honor of housing most of the garbage around here anyway, he thought. Let them have their little celebrity Gryff too.

He barely paid attention to the rest of sorting, nearly missing the call of yet _another_ Weasley being put into Gryffindor and getting one last Slytherin—Blaise Zabini.

As much as he tried, he couldn't tear his eyes off Potter.

His worst fears had been realized.

The boy looked the exact image of Potter. The same unruly brown hair that would be ruffled at all opportune times to make him appear as rakish and handsome as possible, the same glasses, and the same lanky frame that would slouch and strut everywhere.

He glared. Of course the boy would be the spitting image of Potter. This was Potter's way of laughing at him from the grave.

He barely heard the headmaster's words and only tore his gaze off Potter when Dumbledore elbowed him gently in the ribs and asked him to pass the potatoes and to start eating dinner before it went cold.

He transferred his gaze to his own table and forced himself to stab random things on his place and shove them into his mouth while he kept an eye on his Slytherins.

Draco was being obnoxiously loud and arrogant, waving his arms in grandiose gestures as he spoke and making sure that all the first years were staring at him with wide eyes.

Severus snorted, content to let Draco bask in his glory for the moment. He was obviously letting all the first years know that he had technically been a Slytherin for years and knew all about everything. From Terence's amused smirk and Miles' eye rolling, Severus knew that they would let their little snake have his moment but would put him back in his place as soon as they were back in the dungeons.

At some point Quirrel started stammering at him, and Severus adopted the same style he usually used with Lucius—nodding from time to time and making noises that could be construed as being agreement or disagreement, depending on how one wanted to interpret them. Adding the word 'certainly' and 'indeed' at random times was also essential.

He had nearly managed to forget all about Potter by the end of the meal, when he happened to let his gaze sweep the Gryff table—as it often did to pick out potential trouble makers or anybody giving his Slyths any trouble brewing glances.

His eyes skipped amongst the faces— Longbottom, the Weasley twins, a new girl, Sir Nick, another Weasley—the oldest of the current bunch—and a new boy…and Potter.

He was about to tear his gaze off the offending sight, when the brat looked up, and for the first time, Severus could see his eyes.

He managed to keep a hold of his fork this time but the shock nearly made him fall off his chair.

He had Evans' eyes. The damn brat had her eyes.

Anger raced through him. How dare he have her eyes?! He didn't deserve to have her eyes! Potter hadn't deserved her and this Potter didn't deserve any part of her!

He barely noticed the boy grimacing and slapping a hand to his forehead.

He forced himself to look away from those green eyes, struggling to breathe.

He remembered the last time he had seen those eyes.

_Light laughter._

_Green eyes sparkling with mischief, kindness and strength._

_A whirl of red hair shining in the dim light of the headmaster's office._

_"I'll see you soon, Sev."_

He felt a hand on him again and started out his memories.

"Severus? You're gouging a hole into the tablecloth."

Gentle hands removed the fork from his grasp. The sound of hundreds of voices singing, grunting and yelling their way through the school song echoed around him but he hardly heard any of them.

_Laughter._

_Green eyes._

_Shining red hair._

_"I'll see you soon, Sev."_

XXXXXX

The first few days of school were unusually stressful.

They had done their Quidditch try-outs, and to everyone's pleasant surprise, both Josh Montague and Adrian Pucey had proven good enough to make the team as Chasers.

Terence made all the young, light fliers try out as Seeker, hoping to find a replacement for himself, but none of them were agile or quick enough, or had any desire to join the team.

Of course, Draco had right away put up a fuss, saying he wanted to try out too.

He loudly stated that he could outfly any of them, had been flying and coming to practices for years and was light enough, but Severus had been firm. All the heads of houses had long ago made an agreement that no first years would be allowed to play. Being on the team required a lot of time and dedication, and first years had way too much to absorb during their first year of magical education, and eleven year olds weren't mature enough to manage their time well enough.

Draco could try out and possibly make the team during his second year. It was a rule every other student at Hogwarts had to come to terms with and learned to accept, and Severus pointed out, somehow, none of them had died from being deprived of Quidditch playing opportunities that first year of their lives at Hogwarts. Draco would just have to tough it out because rules were rules. Draco had made a face and sat down on the bleachers with a huff and glared at Terence the rest of the day—as if Draco's age was Terence's fault—but didn't voice any more complaints, knowing it was useless.

Then there was the fact that every single one of his classes so far were full of Claws, Puffs and Gryffs—especially Gryffs—whispering about Potter.

"Does he really have a scar?"

"Have you talked to him yet?"

"He's quite dreamy, isn't he?"

Any time his back turned, he heard them and promptly took points and gave detention with a speed that surprised even some of the older years. It wasn't just that they were talking that irritated him, it was who they were talking about that irritated him.

He hadn't seen the boy since the sorting feast, and already, he was the center of attention, the topic of all conversation, and the reason behind every envious or dreamy sigh.

He grit his teeth and forced himself not to shove their idiotic heads into their cauldrons.

And that was before he started hearing the other whispers.

"D'you suppose he remembers any of it? When, when You-Know-Who did it?"

"Can he remember his parents dying, do you think? Did his mom scream? I know I would."

He knocked over the cauldron he had been inspecting, snarled at the whisperers to get out of his classroom and put the Hufflepuffs into negative points.

Then he glared at all of the shocked students staring back at him and hissed that if any of them ever mentioned Potter's name or anything about him or his history in his classroom again, he would make sure their house scores never reached the positive numbers again.

And that was before he had even had his first Slytherin-Gryffindor first year class.

XXXXXX

"Mr. Nott? My office for a moment."

Theodore Nott stared at him with wide eyes before slowly shuffling down the corridor and into his office.

Severus glanced at the time. It was nearly time for tutorial. He would have to make this quick.

Gesturing for Theodore to sit down, he sat behind his desk and stared at the boy.

He hadn't had the boy in class yet—he had that particular joy to look forward to tomorrow morning—but he had seen him interacting with the rest of the house.

Or rather, his lack of interaction.

Draco had collected most of the first years around him like a cloak and hoarded them everywhere with him, telling them about the older students from other houses, showing them the best hiding spots to jinx people from and 'reminiscing' about years gone by.

Millicent Bulstrode, a rather sensible if plain looking girl had grown tired of Draco's prattling, had promptly told him so and had started hanging out with Blaise Zabini, a tall and also quiet boy. They were a strange pair, but then again, Severus would be hypocritical to call any strangely matched friendship weird, so he kept quiet.

Draco's hanger-ons still included the ever present forms of Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and a pretty girl named Pansy Parkinson who Severus just knew would be problematic in later years.

Two of the remaining first year girls—Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass—had quickly become attached at the hip and went everywhere together.

The only one who had remained on the outskirts and didn't even try to make friends was Theodore Nott.

He would sit in corners, reading his textbooks or just watching the rest of his house hanging out, but never moved to interact with them.

Severus knew exactly who Theo reminded him of and he knew exactly what dangers lurked in the upstairs corridors for the boy if he kept this up.

Severus leaned onto his desk and clasped his hands. "How are you liking life in the house so far, Mr. Nott?"

Theodore shrugged.

That was his first mistake. Severus narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Nott, are you a slug incapable of speech?"

Theodore looked bewildered. "No, sir."

"No. You are a Slytherin and Slytherins do not behave like slugs. If you are asked a question, you will look the questioner right in the eye and answer properly. Do you understand me?"

Theodore struggled to look him in the eye and gripped the arm rests of his chair to keep from letting his gaze drop to the floor where he desperately wanted it to be.

"Yes, sir." Came the meek, nearly whispered response.

"And furthermore, Slytherins do not whisper, Mr. Nott. Even if you are scared of a situation, you will keep that fear off your face and in your head. We are strong, proud people, Mr. Nott."

"I'm not, sir."

Severus gave him a smirk. "Then you will pretend to be until you are. Understood?"

Theodore opened his mouth to no doubt whisper his response, but then forced himself to sit up straight, look him in the eye and say "Yes, sir."

It wasn't as strong or confident as Severus would have liked, but the eye contact was there and the volume was better. It was an improvement.

"Very well done, Mr. Nott. I know it takes courage to appear strong and confident if you aren't."

"Yes, sir."

"Have you ever met a bully before?"

His eyes darted away for a moment, but then Severus snapped his fingers and the eyes came back. "Y-yes, sir."

No wonder Salazar had always glared at him for his constant 'uhms'.

"Again. Without the stutter."

Theo cleared his throat. "Yes, sir."

"Better. Now, those bullies, whoever they are, if they were faced between attacking you or let's say, Mr. Malfoy, who do you think they would choose?"

"Well, me, sir."

"Why?"

"Because Draco's tough. He'd stand up to them."

"But they don't really know Mr. Malfoy, do they? They don't know if he'd run the other way if they attacked him. All they see is what's on his face, and if his face shows strength and confidence, they'll automatically assume that's what he is. A Slytherin never lets their fear show on their face, Mr. Nott. It makes you an automatic target. I don't imagine you like being a target."

"No, sir."

"Then don't act like one."

"Yes, sir." The response sounded surer, stronger and Theodore's gaze hadn't wavered in the past few minutes.

At least something was going right in his world.

"Now that we've cleared that out of the way, I wanted to ask you what your plans for the summer are."

"The summer?"

"I know term's barely started, but certain things must be planned well in advance. Your father and I have been in communication—"

Theodore's face paled and he visibly shrank back at the mention of his father.

"—and he seems to think that it would do you some good to remain at school with me over the next few years. What do you think?"

Theo was about to shrug but at Severus' raised eyebrow, he changed his mind. "I'm not sure, sir. I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience."

"You wouldn't be. I regularly have students living at in the castle with me. Some start in their first year and remain here until they graduate. Your father would send money for you to spend at Hogsmeade and other things, I would see to it that you get anything you needed—school supplies, clothing, shoes, toothbrushes, Christmas and birthday presents, etc."

Theo's eyes widened. "You're serious, sir?"

"Absolutely. I take my duties as head of house very seriously, Mr. Nott. If some of my Slytherins are living in conditions that are, shall we say inappropriate for their proper development and continual maturity and might in fact be detrimental, I won't allow the situation to continue. But it is your choice. You can go home every holiday and I can have some stern conversations with your father, or you may remain here."

"Can I stay here? Forever?"

Severus nearly laughed at the sudden eagerness. "Certainly not forever, Mr. Nott. Once you graduate I will expect you to try going out on your own and be successful on your own two feet, but if you wish, this can be your home from now until you choose not to have it so."

"I'd very much like that, sir."

"Good. Now, there will be other students here during the summer and I will hold you to the same standards during holidays as I do during the school year. I will demand that you treat this house, school, me and your fellow Slytherins with the respect they all deserve, and I will expect you to help out with chores and do your summer reading in a timely manner."

"That won't be a problem, sir. I promise."

"I didn't think so. Now, one last issue." Severus leaned forward and let his gaze soften a bit. "I understand that some people find more comfort and joy in books and their own heads than the company in others, but I will ask that you make a bit of an effort at integrating with the house. Your housemates are your only protection in the rest of the school and the rest of the world and they can't protect you if they don't even know you're there. I'm not saying I want you to join in on all conversations, but at least be sitting somewhere close by. And who knows, you might find yourself a friend in the most unlikely of places or occasions."

Theodore nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Go grab your books. Tutorial starts in—"

Theo glanced at the clock behind Severus' head. "Seven minutes, sir."

"Right. I shall see you in the classroom. You're dismissed, Mr. Nott."

Theodore leapt up and was nearly out the classroom door when he turned and gave him a shy smile.

"Thanks for talking to me, sir. People either just yell at me or they don't say anything at all."

"Don't thank me for treating you the way you should be treated, Mr. Nott. Furthermore, I will teach you how to demand that people treat you the way they should."

"Yes, sir."

"My door is always open. Always. Use it."

"Yes, sir."


	30. Chapter 30

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 30

'Father, are we so sure of our methods that we never question what we do?'

- Droxine to Plasus, 'The Cloud Minders'

(_Star Trek: The Original Series_)

XXXXXX

He kept his eyes glued to the register, not wanting to have to look up and see the brat until he had to.

"Vincent Crabbe?"

"Here, sir."

He slowly went down the list, glancing up to memorize each new Gryffs face as he called their names.

Then he reached Potter's name.

"Ah, yes. Harry Potter. Our new—_celebrity_," he said quietly, bracing himself before he looked up and stared into Evans' eyes stuck in that hated face. The boy just stared back at him.

He heard Draco, Vincent and Gregory and some others chuckling and silenced them with a look.

He resumed calling their names, briefly pausing after calling Dean Thomas' name. He glanced up to see a dark skinned boy who was staring at everything around with him that air of disbelief and amazement that typically muggle borns had for the first week. He just hoped that the boy would have more sense than his father had had. But Dean had been put into Gryffindor and his mother—according to the headmaster—was determined not to allow her son to follow in his father's weak, misguided and idiotic footsteps.

Whether Severus' decision to risk his life to save Dean's nearly eleven years ago had been a wise one would only be revealed by time itself.

Shaking himself out of those thoughts, Severus resumed with the register, not bothering to wait for Weasley to respond before he checked him off. Like he could possibly mistaken the orange colored hair, bored expression and lanky frame as belonging to any other family.

Then he tossed down the parchment and launched into his usual first year speech while Draco looked bored, since he'd already heard it recited by the older years.

Severus noted with some interest that one of Gryff girls—Granger he thought her name was—had straightened up and looked quite determined and a bit insulted when he called them dunderheads. That was a reaction he didn't usually get from anybody except Claws. And never first year Claws.

It impressed him momentarily, but then he realized what time it was and continued.

Time to do an oral check of summer reading material.

Draco straightened up, a smug smirk on his face. He'd spent the whole summer prepping for the summer reading orals Severus gave his whole house on their first day back and had passed his own with flying colors.

Severus knew Draco knew his stuff, just like he knew Pansy did too, so he decided to see if history was going to repeat itself.

Potter had never in his life done his summer readings and had swaggered into first day classes the same way he'd swaggered into any other; arrogant, obnoxious and convinced that all he needed to do to pass was give the professor a wide grin and throw his arm over the back of the chair.

The current Potter probably thought he'd coast through his education the same way.

Severus didn't care if every other professor would beam and go into a tizzy over his smile and let him get away with being a moron just because he was 'special'. There was no way in hell Severus would allow history to repeat itself if he could help it.

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" he demanded.

Granger's hand shot into the air and Draco frowned for a moment before he presumably got the answer. He smiled and leaned back, knowing that Severus would call on him if he felt like it.

Severus waited, hoping the boy would at least hazard a guess.

But then came the predictable: "I don't know, sir."

He let his lips curl into a sneer. Of course Potter's brat was too special to even bother trying. "Tut, tu—fame clearly isn't everything."

For Evans' sake, he decided to give the boy another shot. "Let's try again, Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

The question was so easy that Draco gaped at him and Pansy quit examining her fingernails to give him an unimpressed look. Granger's hand was apparently trying to detach itself from her body and levitate itself to the ceiling.

While he continued staring at Potter, he caught Draco shooting the boy a look of disbelief before he let out a snort of laughter. Pansy and most of his Slytherins followed suite.

"I don't know, sir."

He refused to even try. Severus glared into those green eyes, knowing how appalled Evans would be. Potter didn't care, he didn't try, he was making absolutely no effort. Evans had never been a top notch student, but once she had decided to apply herself properly, she had done so with unbelievable dedication.

This sorry excuse of a being with her eyes was an insult to her memory and her achievements.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" he hissed.

He hoped the boy would quit looking at him with those damn eyes, but the arrogant git just stared back at him.

He could practically feel Evans elbowing him in the ribs and telling him to give the boy another chance. Three time's a charm was something she'd say whenever she took a third stab at anything that she had messed up twice already. Apparently it was some stupid muggle saying that Severus never completely understood. What charms had to do with effort was beyond him.

So, for Evans sake, he decided to give her brat another chance. One last chance to give him even a hint that this brat was different from the old Potter and that he had the guts and the determination to at least try.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Granger actually came out of her seat and Draco scoffed under his breath at the absurd question.

Severus stared into Potter's eyes, hoping that the boy at least made an effort. A guess. Maybe asked him for a description of both plants. Maybe apologized for not having done his readings, for not having gotten any questions right and for embarrassed his house and his mother.

But no. "I don't know. I think Hermione does, though, why don't you ask her?"

At that, his opinion of Harry Potter cemented itself. The arrogance he had been expecting was there, plain as daylight. No respect, no effort, not even a hint of remorse or shame at being unprepared and an embarrassment.

He wanted to reach over and shake the boy and hiss at him that he didn't deserve to be Lily Evans' son.

But he couldn't. Instead, he had to protect this ungrateful, disrespectful brat for the rest of his life because his mother had had brains and a Slytherin's view of the world.

"Sit down!" he snapped at Granger, who was nearly pushing her cauldron off her desk and whose arm had probably lost all circulation.

Didn't the moron understand that he wasn't going to be impressed by somebody knowing something that they had been _told_ to know?

Pushing all thoughts of Potter, Evans and this brat out of his mind, he refocused on the rest of the class.

"For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons."

He saw Draco mutter 'duh' under his breath and roll his eyes but ignored him for the time being. He wasn't being openly disrespectful, unlike certain Gryffs.

"As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite."

He noticed his Slytherins had already pulled out parchment and ink, and Gregory had twisted around in his chair and snagged one of Daphne's spare quills. They were all busy scribbling, well used to writing down anything important that came out of his mouth, and knowing he hated to repeat himself.

The Gryffs just sat there, staring at him, some with mouths hanging open and Weasley looking close to falling asleep.

Idiots. "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

While they scrambled for parchment and quills and Tracey Davies sneered at them without stopping her scribbling, Severus thought about how many points he should take from Potter for his rudeness.

He really wanted to take twenty, but he could practically feel Evans smacking him over the head, telling him to give him a break. It was the first day of classes, the boy didn't know Severus' expectations yet, and besides, he was her son.

"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

He thought the boy would thank him on a bended knee for only making it a point, and Draco stared at him in stunned bewilderment. Draco himself had lost their house more than a point that week already and Potter had been disrespectful, arrogant and unprepared. Three things Severus couldn't stand from anybody.

He gave Draco a pointed look, daring him to argue about it in front of everybody, but Draco wisely let his gaze drop back to his parchment and continued writing.

As the lesson wore on, Draco perked up. They were making a simple boil cure potion, one that Draco had been allowed to assist with during tutorial last year.

Severus swept among the tables, pleased to see Draco was using correct techniques and procedures and that the Slytherins around him were slowly following Draco's lead, copying his movements. At one point, Draco reached over to grab Pansy's wrist before she started stirring the wrong way and shot her a scowl.

Severus made a mental note to make Vincent practice chopping that night in tutorial and managed to grab Seamus Finnegan's cauldron before the idiot knocked it over. Even Potter was using his head for the first time, following Granger's steps.

It would have all been fine if Longbottom hadn't added his damn porcupine quills before taking his cauldron off the fire. It stated in plain, large letters on the blackboard 'Remove the cauldron PRIOR to adding the porcupine quills.'

Longbottom's cauldron collapsed, his potion started seeping all over the floor and the boy started whimpering in pain from the boils all over him.

His Slytherins had been faster to react to the spilt potion and had extinguished their fires and leapt onto their stools as Severus taught them to do in tutorial.

The Gryffs were slower, but once they saw that the potion was burning holes into their shoes, they were quick to follow suite.

Severus swept over, evanescoing the spilt potion and glaring down at Longbottom, who apparently was too stupid to read.

The boy whose parents had fought some of the toughest battles of the war and had held out through hours of being tortured by trained interrogators like Bella and Barty couldn't even read simple directions properly.

The boy was nearly a worse insult to his parent's memory than Potter was.

He berated the moron and sent him up to the infirmary, before rounding on Potter.

As if his cheek, being unprepared and not caring about it weren't enough, he hadn't even seen fit to help one of his own housemates.

It was an offence he would take twenty points off his own house for, but he really didn't give a damn that the Gryffs would toss each other to the wolves for a bit of glory. It was the way they were born. Especially this Gryff.

"You—Potter—why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

The boy actually opened his mouth to no doubt argue, and Severus raised an eyebrow, waiting for the typical outraged ranting and raving to start. Gryffs shouldn't ever be punished, oh no! How dare he take points from the golden children who could do no wrong?

He was almost eager to hear the moron launch into the hogwash that his father had used year after year after year, but then Weasley kicked him under the table and muttered something at him that probably included the words 'Shut up'.

Weasley probably knew a thing or two about how things were run in his class, having had way too many brothers pass through the same class, but he should have informed his little friend a bit earlier about how things were run here.

Potter obviously didn't have a clue, and obviously didn't care that he didn't, like he didn't care about anything else that didn't include his own fan club or tales of his greatness.

Life for the next seven years was going to be fantastic.

XXXXXX

Severus whirled on Minerva, his mouth falling open. She couldn't be serious. This had to be a joke. Not a particular funny one, but a joke nonetheless.

"You made a first year Seeker?"

She beamed at him. "His age isn't the point, Severus. I finally have a Seeker who can get the job done! That Quidditch Cup is going back on my own mantle this year!" She was grinning at him, practically crowing, eyes sparking with excitement.

Severus couldn't believe that she would allow their little competition for the Cups to override the common sense that she had promised, _promised_ to start using when it came to her Gryffs.

"He's a first year, Minerva!"

She blinked at him. She looked slightly worried at the anger on his face. "Yes, I know, but I thought we could make an exception just this once. It's not even a firm rule anyway, is it?"

He was clenching his jaw so hard he thought he'd break it. "Typical," he spat. "Absolutely typical!"

"What is?"

"You're doing it again! And you can't even see it, you stupid old woman!"

"Severus Snape! I would ask that you watch your tone with—"

"You've had your precious Potter back for less than a month and he's already getting special privileges and special attention! What the hell is wrong with you?! All of you?!"

He realized he was yelling and the staff room had gone absolutely silent, but he couldn't take his eyes off Minerva.

She was frowning at him, half angry but mostly just confused.

"Severus, I didn't do this to hurt you. I just want to win that damn Cup for once!"

Severus noted absently that she had just cursed and that he had never heard the Transfiguration professor curse before in the twenty years that he had known her.

But that didn't erase her short sighted stupidity.

"I don't care if your own intentions were just greed for the Cup and crowing rights! You sent the message that this Potter, just like the other one is special and that rules don't apply to him! Can't you see where this will lead? The boy is already treated as a celebrity for something he just stood in his bloody crib and gawked for! Why the hell would you do this?! You're creating another arrogant, bullying monster, Minerva!"

She stared at him, not angry anymore but just confused. "I—I just want to win the Cup, Severus. I have no ulterior motives. Why are you so upset over this? It's just Quidditch."

He opened his mouth to yell at her some more, but then realized it would do no good.

Just like Minerva herself had said, she was blind to her own actions where her Gryffs were concerned, just like she was blind to those Gryffs own actions.

Spinning on his heel, he marched out of the staff room, slamming the door shut behind him.

XXXXXX

"But that's not fair!" Draco yelled, a red tinge coloring his cheeks from anger.

"You will lower your voice, Mr. Malfoy!"

Draco reigned in his temper a tiny bit, but it didn't lower his voice by much. "It's not fair and you know it! You told me I couldn't play because I'm a first year!"

"I know what I said, Mr. Malfoy, and it stands. You shouldn't be allowed to play."

"But Potter is?! Why? Because his parents were stupid enough to get themselves killed by the Dark Lord? Because being an orphan makes him special? Because he's got a stupid scar on his head? I've got a scar on my elbow and Ravenia was an orphan and we never get any special privileges!"

Severus sighed. He really didn't know what to say to him. He was just as furious and upset as Draco, but perhaps the eleven year old was even more upset, since he didn't understand the history behind the whole mess.

"Draco, Harry Potter isn't special, he never did anything special and he probably never will do anything special. But he's a Gryff and he's surrounded by Gryffs. You know how they are, Draco!"

Severus crouched down and grabbed Draco by the shoulders and shook him slightly to get him to quit glaring at the floor and look at him.

Once the furious grey eyes were on his, he continued.

"I don't care if the rest of the school thinks of Potter as some sort of celebrity and heaps unwarranted praise, devotion and privileges on him. What matters to me—what has only ever mattered to me—is what my Slytherins do down here in the dungeons. I promise you that Potter will not be treated like a little prince when he's in my classroom and he will have to earn every bit of praise I give him, like you all do."

"So you don't like him either?"

Severus let out a laugh. Oh, if Evans would only know what a mess her damn brat was already causing!

"No, I don't, little snake. Besides, my Slytherins will always come first. Always."

Looking a bit better—or at least, not as furious anymore—Draco slumped a bit.

"It's still not fair."

"When the hell have Gryffs ever been fair?"

Draco bit his lip. "So there's nothing you can do about him playing?"

"No. It's his head of house's decision."

"I thought you got along well with McGonagall."

"Normally we do. Our relationship is—complicated. Don't worry about it."

Draco scowled. "So we just leave it? Let the golden brat think he's special and wonderful? We'd never hear the end of it!"

Severus gave him a sly smile. "What does our house always say about revenge, Draco? When we're hit…"

Draco slowly started smirking. "We hit back, and we hit back hard."

Nodding, Severus straightened up and pushed a lock of blond hair behind Draco's ear. "Now, get out of my office and go get ready for tutorial. You have a lot of thinking to do."


	31. Chapter 31

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 31

A/N: I don't remember ever being this exhausted at the end of the first week of school. And I thought this was going to be my easy year. Updating (and writing) will slow down from the pace they've been at, unfortunately, but I'll be continuing, don't worry. From the way things are looking, updates will be once a week, probably on weekends.

Just a quick note to the Bella fans: I managed to squeeze her into a little scene here. Consider it a consolation prize for updates slowing down.

Lettuce – at this point in the story, Harry's interactions with Dumbledore are limited, but even later, Severus will never really see Harry as a rival for Dumbledore's affections. In my story, Severus spends a lot more time with the headmaster than Harry ever does, and Dumbledore really doesn't spend that much quality time with Harry. Mostly he's just telling Harry something he'll need to know for his own future. There will be issues brought up concerning Dumbledore's favoritism of the Harry and Gryffs in general, but that wasn't what you were talking about, right?

And without further ado, here we go: Bella, a troll, and limb threatening encounters with Fluffy coming up!

'The optimist proclaims, that we live in the best of all possible words; and the pessimist fears this is true.'

- James Branch Cabell

XXXXXX

Draco was careful not to smirk too much or do anything to give away his plan. The Professor would give him detention for a week if he messed up such a simple—yet hopefully effective—plan.

He'd sauntered over to the Gryff table during dinner, his plan already fully formed in his head. Greg and Vincent had asked him what he was up to so he'd given them a whispered outline and told them to keep their mouths shut, but agreed to let them tag along.

He drawled out something about this being Potter's last meal and asking him when he would be getting back on the train. He knew the brat wasn't being sent home, but he needed to rile him up.

Potter—the predictable Gryff—immediately jumped on the bait instead of trying to determine the purpose behind Draco's conversation. Oh, well. Gryff stupidity had always served Slytherins well.

"You're a lot braver now you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you."

There was the opening Draco needed. Pretending to be insulted by the insinuation that he needed Vincent or Greg to fight his battles for him, he launched into his carefully prepared plan.

"I'd take you on any time on my own. Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only—no contact." He saw Potter trying to—unsuccessfully—hide his confusion. Stupid muggle raised brat. "What the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

That was when Weasley piped up and unknowingly propelled his plan further in the right direction.

"Of course he has! I'm his second, who's yours?"

Thank you, Weasley, for making it so much easier to drag your special brat of a friend into a trap. Really, he should thank the red headed idiot after it was all over.

He pretended to think about it, knowing he wasn't going to be fighting any duel any time soon.

"Crabbe," he finally said with a slight frown as if the decision had required some thought. Then he got ready to seal the deal. "Midnight, alright? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."

After Potter and Weasley both nodded, Draco spun around and went back to the Slyth table. Greg nearly let out a snort of laughter but Draco elbowed him sharply in the side.

"They could still hear you, Greg. Shut up until we're back at the table. We'll pretend I said something funny and you can laugh as much as you want."

Just before he sat down, he glanced up at the head table. His head of house met his eyes for a moment and lightly raised an eyebrow. Nobody would have detected the movement if they hadn't been looking for it, and Draco allowed the tiniest of smiles to touch the corner of his lips before he nodded his head slightly.

He thought he saw a tiny smile tug on the corner of the Professor's lips as he reached for his pumpkin juice.

Shoving himself between Terence and Luther Warrington on the bench, he reached for his own glass, feeling slightly more pleased with the world.

XXXXXX

"Mr. Filch! Mr. Filch!"

Argus paused just before he ducked around the next corner and frowned as the little first year ran up to him.

He had a Slytherin emblem on his cloak, but Argus couldn't for the life of him remember his name. Too many kids after too many years made the practice of remembering all of their names tedious and useless.

"What is it?"

The boy's eyes widened and he looked quite nervous. "I—I just overheard some other first year boys talking, sir."

Argus leaned closer to hear the boy's hushed words properly. "About what?"

"They—they—I'm quite positive I heard them talking about sneaking out at night, sir. Tonight they said."

Argus raised an eyebrow, intrigued and irritated. He would never understand why stupid kids who didn't know the castle and its hidden dangers would sneak around it in the pitch dark. They had no sense, these brats. None.

"Tonight, eh? Did you hear them say where they're going? The Forest?"

"Oh, no, sir. They said something about the trophy room." The boy frowned as if trying to remember. "I think they said midnight."

"Midnight in the trophy room, huh?"

"Will you go by around midnight and check if they're there, sir? I wouldn't want them getting hurt! This castle is so big and dark at night. They could really get into problems."

Argus shot a hopefully reassuring look at the nervous little boy.

"Don't you worry about it, laddie. I'll get to them before they can get themselves hurt."

The boy nodded, looking relieved that this burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Will they be in loads of trouble, sir?"

"Sneaking out at night is serious, laddie. We can't start going soft on anybody."

The boy started looking slightly worried—obviously concerned with getting his friends into trouble when he was just looking out for them.

Argus shot him what he hoped was a reassuring smile and the boy smiled back.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Filch."

"You're welcome, laddie. Anytime you overhear other night time adventurists, you come and tell me right quick and I'll take care of it."

"Oh, don't worry, sir. I'll be sure to find you right away."

"There's a good lad. Now, run along with you."

Spinning around, the boy disappeared around the corner and Filch continued on his way, a slight skip in his step. He would catch some trouble makers tonight! He'd take Mrs. Norris and they'd go hunt them down and drag them to Professor Snape by their ears!

XXXXXX

Of course Filch didn't know it, but it was a good thing he had decided to go down this corridor.

If he would have decided to go down to the dungeons at that particular moment, he would have stumbled across that same small first year, except by this time, he wasn't nervous or scared anymore.

He was grinning ear to ear, racing down the stairs to his common room to tell Greg and Vincent that by this time tomorrow, the Gryff's golden boy would be expelled and out of their lives forever.

XXXXXX

"—didn't only not get caught, but now he gets to have a new broom?!"

"Mr. Malfoy, lower your voice! I don't need the entire dungeon hearing your complaining."

"Complaining?! These aren't just complaints, it's injustice of the highest order, sir!"

Severus sighed. "I'm sorry your plan fell through, Draco. Filch isn't as quick as he used to be and you didn't take his speed into account."

Draco still looked livid. "Fine, so I didn't plan it through all the way, but that still doesn't make it fair that he gets to have a brand new broom!"

"I know it doesn't."

"So let me floo my father! He'd send my broom over, I know he would. I know it's just a Comet, but at least it's something."

"No, Draco."

Draco pulled himself up and became livid once more. "Why not?!" he bellowed. "Is it because there aren't 'special circumstances' surrounding me, like Flitwick said Potter had? Why does he get a new broom when nearly our entire team is flying school brooms and so's most of the Gryff team?!"

"I told you I know it's not fair, but I also told you that there's nothing I can do about it."

"Well can't you knock some sense into that stupid old hag who's his head of house?"

Severus drew himself up and raised an eyebrow. Draco sucked in a breath and blinked, momentarily shocked into silence. He'd gone too far that time, he knew that.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call her that. But you can't say she's being fair! Potter's already a special celebrity everywhere he goes anyway and now he's being treated special here too? It's not fair!"

Draco's voice had lost some of its heat and he looked on the verge of tears instead.

"Why is he so damn special? He's not that smart, he's not that good of a Seeker and he didn't even know why his name's in all the history books until a few months ago!"

Severus crouched down and put his hands on Draco's shoulders.

"He's not special, Draco."

"But everybody—"

"Everybody thinks he's special, but that doesn't make him special. He didn't do anything to stop that killing curse from reaching him, it was all his mother's doing."

"But everybody still treats him like he's special so it's just as bad as if he were special! He gets to play Seeker and he gets a brand new broom and he's just a first year and hasn't ever played before! I've practiced for years and I could have brought my broom with me but I knew it was against the rules—"

"And I'm proud of you for that, Draco. Rules exist for a reason and the fact that Gryffs flaunt them shows that they don't understand that and shows how ignorant, stupid and short sighted they can be."

Draco drew in a shaky breath and pressed his lips together. Severus could see tears brimming his eyelids and when one ran down his cheek, Severus swiped it away with his thumb.

"Come here, little snake." Severus pulled the small Slytherin into his arms and Draco collapsed against him, quietly crying into his robes.

"I wish—I wish he'd never come here. It's not fun anymore," he said between sobs. "And that's not fair because I've been waiting for years to be an actual Slytherin and go to classes and learn magic and now it's not fun anymore! I wish he'd go to another school."

"We'll make it fun, Draco. Harry Potter might rule the rest of the school, but down here in our dungeons, we run things. We'll find a way to make the next seven years bearable, little snake. I promise."

"A Slytherin promise?"

Smiling, Severus gently straightened Draco up and then looked around his office. Not finding any good snakes that were within reach, he finally saw the Slytherin emblem on Draco's uniform. Pressing his fingers against the snake on the patch of cloth, he looked at Draco while he spoke.

"I swear on Salazar Slytherin's soul that I will find a way to make your life at Hogwarts fun, Draco Malfoy. Even with Harry Potter here."

Hiccupping slightly, Draco stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. Pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket, he wiped his eyes and his nose.

"Alright now?"

Draco nodded again, putting the handkerchief away and straightening up. "Yes, sir." A Slytherin promise like that wasn't taken lightly in the house, especially if it was made by their head of house.

"Good. Now get going. We start wand work practice in five minutes. Remember to remind the girls to tie their hair back before coming."

After Draco had gone, Severus let himself slump against his desk and turned on his bond.

_"I hate the boy, Bella."_

_"I know Sevvie. He's a bad, bad person."_

_"Yeah."_

_"I knew he was a bad, bad person after he made master go away, when master never did anything to him, but now he's making my Sevvie's life hard."_

_"And the best part is that I can't do anything about it. The brat has to stay here."_

There was silence for a moment. Then: _"Ow."_

_"Ow? What the hell did you do?"_

_"I went to help you, Sevvie, but there was a wall and I went splat."_

_"That's no good. You know those walls are solid and you can hurt yourself, Bella."_

_"Yeah.__ I went owy."_

Severus chuckled and leaned his head against his desk. _"It's okay, Bella. You can't come help me right now, and that's fine. I can handle it, I just don't want to."_

_"But I feel bad. We're partners, Sevvie! I'm supposed to help my partner."_

_"And you are. Talking to you keeps me sane these days."_

_"Oh, good.__ That makes me so very happy. Happy, happy. Happy, happy, happy. I can sing a song about it for you, Sevvie! Would you like that?"_

He looked over his shoulder at the clock. He still had two minutes before he had to be in the duelling chamber. _"Sure, Bella.__ That would be fantastic."_

He sat there on the floor while Bella started singing in his head. It never occurred to him to question the irony in the fact that it was a crazy woman sitting in Azkaban who was keeping him sane.

XXXXXX

Helping himself to more corn, Severus briefly glanced up and down the staff table, curious to find Quirrel still missing.

The man was always quite punctual where meals were concerned. Unfortunately.

On second thought, Severus didn't really mind the man not being here. Quirrel went into hysterics when a fly buzzed around his ear, so Severus didn't want to have to sit next to him during the one dinner of the year that featured thousands of live bats swooping around the place.

Despite the fact that his mark could still sense that something was off about Quirrel, the man had done nothing but attend to his classes—quite incompetently, but not dangerously so—eat his meals and stay locked in his room for hours at a time. Severus had put Gabby and Ruddy in charge of tailing him when they weren't busy in the kitchens. The arrangement had worked out quite well so far, since Quirrel either taught or ate during the times that the elves were busy in the kitchen.

So feeling just a little irritated and not particularly worried, Severus dug into the Halloween Feast, nodding at the headmaster's compliments for the food.

When ten minutes had gone by, Severus leaned towards the headmaster and had just opened his mouth to ask him if he knew why Quirrel wasn't at dinner, when the mystery solved itself.

Quirrel came racing into the Great Hall, the door banging against the wall from the force of his entry. He nearly fell over some Hufflepuffs standing by their table and missed the steps leading up to the staff table and nearly sprawled onto the table.

Severus was about to dryly point out that—although punctuality was appreciated—it wasn't an offence punishable by death. Not to mention that the elves wouldn't recall the food and let Quirrel starve just because he was a bit late.

"Troll—in the dungeons—though you ought to know."

A _what_?

Merlin's balls!

Severus leapt to his feet, dropping his fork and nearly fell over Quirrel—who had fainted in a sprawl across the floor by his feet.

Waiting just long enough to meet Terence Higg's and the other prefects eyes, he gave them a terse nod, letting them know he expected them to keep order and follow the other staff's instructions until he returned. Getting a pale but determined nod back from them, Severus leapt over Quirrel's body and raced out of the Great Hall towards the dungeons.

_"Bird!"_

_"What is it? I'm eating dinner!"_

_"So was I until Quirrel came in and told us there's a troll in the dungeons!"_

_"There's a what? Seriously, Severus, can't you let me eat in peace? That's not funny!"_

Severus sprinted around the next corner and reached the dungeon stairs. Pausing only long enough to see if the troll was waiting around the corner, he hurried down the stairs, pulling his wand out as he went.

Reaching the bottom steps, he could smell the residual stench of the troll having been here, but he didn't see a sign of him. Thank Merlin it was dinner time and none of his Slytherins had been here.

A sudden pop beside him revealed his elf. "Troll left dungeons, young master! Gorgy throwing fire balls at it until went back upstairs!"

"Why on earth would you drive it towards the students, elf?!"

"Because if we killing troll down here, it take forever to get upstairs! Troll very heavy. Besides, Gorgy thinking it dinner time. No kids in halls."

Well there weren't, until Quirrel had to let the entire school know there was a troll on the loose. Idiot.

_"Bird, find that troll! Now!"_

Turning around, he sprinted back up the stairs, waiting for Fawkes to get back to him.

_"Fawkes!"_

_"Would you give me a minute? I just ate! Flying is difficult on a full stomach. Anyway, I'm going as fast as I can."_

_"No sign of him yet?"_

_"Of course there was. I just decided not to tell you because I would jeopardize the safety of the students and staff just to irritate you."_

Gritting his teeth, Severus kept running, ducking down various corridors and up staircases, levitating himself up and down them to save time and momentum.

_"What on earth is a troll doing in the school anyway? It's not as if they live in the Forest. A troll wouldn't just wander in here on its own. I know they have a terrible sense of direction, but this is a bit much, even for a troll."_

Severus skid to a halt, breathing hard and nearly taking a nose dive onto the floor.

What on earth _was_ a troll doing in here?

There was no way a troll would have wandered into Hogwarts by mistake. Besides, like Fawkes had said, there were no trolls to be found anywhere near the school.

The only way a troll would have gotten into the school would be if somebody brought it here and let it in.

But why on earth would somebody want to let a troll into a school full of children?

The answer came to him almost immediately.

The troll was a distraction. But for what? What was valuable enough in the school that somebody would go to this much effort to cause chaos and confusion?

"Damn it!" Spinning around, he sprinted back down the corridor towards the third floor. Why on earth hadn't this occurred to him sooner? It had been such an obvious ploy!

_"Bird!"_

_"I didn't lie to you, I'm seriously still looking for him."_

Severus quickly debated whether to send Fawkes to the third floor or to keep looking for the troll.

Deciding that if somebody was after the stone, they would require more time and would be easier to catch, and also knowing that the students safety was more important than the stone, he ordered the phoenix to keep looking for the troll.

Gasping for breath and feeling like he was about to pass out, he finally reached the third floor and the sealed off corridor.

Damn, he was out of shape. Years of peace time had made him soft. Duelling against school age children and flying around a Quidditch pitch was nothing compared to the exercise he used to get.

Blasting open the door to the corridor, he raced inside, completely having forgotten about Hagrid's monstrosity guarding the trap door.

Skidding backwards, he fell over and saw light glinting off three mouths filled with razor sharp teeth before two of those mouths lunged at him.

Throwing a mild curse at Fluffy, he managed to scramble backwards as the heads reared back, more surprised than hurt by the curse. The headmaster would kill him if he harmed Hagrid's little pet more than necessary. Not to mention the half giant would be inconsolable and Severus had enough problems to deal with.

Scrambling backwards, he took the time to see that the trap door was still shut and hidden beneath Fluffy's enormous body.

If anybody had somehow gotten down there, they would be stuck for the time being.

Managing to get himself out of the room without having to hurt the creature anymore, he slammed the door shut and then let himself collapse onto the floor.

And this had started out as such a normal day.

The sound of faint footsteps reached him. Frowning, he held his breath and listened as he heard the sound growing louder.

Whoever had orchestrated this whole mess was about to come running around the corner.

Standing up, he grabbed his wand and held it out, patiently waiting for the footsteps to come closer."

Moments later, a terrified Quirrel skid around the corner. Nearly running straight into Severus' wand tip, Quirrel let out a yelp, tried to stop and with wind milling arms fell flat on his back.

"Please don't fire! Please!" He cried, covering his face with his arms, his turban askew and his robes twisted all around him.

"What are you doing here, Quirrel? Why aren't you helping look for the troll?"

Quirrel lowered his arms an inch, still staring fearfully at Severus' wand tip.

"I—I w—was worried."

"About what?"

"I thou—thought it was a—a ploy. I—I was worr—ied about the—the stone."

Severus narrowed his eyes and glared down at the man. He knew Quirrel was lying but he couldn't prove it. It wasn't inconceivable that the stammering idiot had come to the same conclusion that Severus had come to. But Severus knew that Quirrel was the only one who had recently purchased a troll and could easily set up arrangements to buy another one.

But he had no proof.

Raising his wand tip, Severus took a step back from the terrified man.

"I've checked the room. If somebody is down there, they won't be coming back out easily."

"R—right," Quirrel said, nodding vigorously as he pushed himself to his feet, his gaze darting to the door and back to Severus.

Still staring at Quirrel, Severus summoned Ruddy.

"Yes, Master Severus?"

"I want you to guard this door for the time being. Come inform me if anybody comes out of it or—" and he narrowed his eyes briefly at Quirrel, who shrank back. "—if somebody tries to get in."

"Yes, Master Severus."

Ruddy moved to the side of the door, hunkered down and with a snap of his fingers turned himself invisible.

Severus briefly glanced at the elf's position, checking to make sure he was completely invisible, and then turned back to Quirrel.

He was about to start fishing for that proof he so badly needed, but was interrupted by a frantic Fawkes and a slight tremor under his feet.

_"Severus! The troll is in the girl's bathroom on the second floor!"_

_"Is anybody in there?"_

_"Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter."_

Shit. Just what he needed to finish this day grandly—have Potter's head crushed in by a troll stomping on it.

_"Keep that troll from killing them, bird! Don't interfere if you don't absolutely have to! I'm trusting you to be able to tell what level of interference applies!"_

He was about to race off, knowing time was of the essence, but at the last second, grabbed Quirrel's arm and yanked the man along. He had to go take care of that damn troll, but he'd be damned if he left Quirrel here to try to get past Ruddy and get his hands on that stone.

"Severus! Where are we going? I—I thought I sho—should stay be—behind and perhaps help the elf k—keep an eye—"

"I don't trust your eyes more than his, Quirrel! Besides, aren't you the Defence instructor?"

"Of—of course. What does that have t—to do with anything?"

Severus shot him a nasty smile over his shoulder as he yanked him down the staircase.

"You being the Defence instructor means that dealing with the troll that's currently in the girl's bathroom will be a piece of cake for you."

Quirrel let out a whimper and nearly sank to the floor but Severus yanked him along, hurrying down the corridor.

The closer they got, the slower Quirrel became, shaking, making pathetic mewling sounds and obviously terrified. Severus wanted to shout at him that Evans' brat needed their help and he needed their help ten minutes ago, never mind now, but he restrained himself. He didn't need Quirrel asking questions about things that were none of his business.

They met a clearly anxious Minerva close to the bathrooms. Unlike the nearly crying man he had a vice grip on, Minerva looked anxious and worried, but wasn't hysterical.

"Where?"

"Girl's bathroom. Potter, Weasley and Granger are with it."

A roaring sound could be heard coming from the direction of the bathroom and the floor trembled again.

Minerva immediately turned and hurried towards the bathroom, Severus dragging Quirrel along, the man whimpering and still trying to convince Severus that he should really be keeping an eye on the third floor corridor.

That more than anything else finally confirmed Severus' suspicions. They all knew the stone was perfectly safe at the moment and that three students lives were on the line. A person who mixed up those two priorities had ulterior motives.

Just before they reached the bathroom, a horrendously loud thud echoed throughout the school and the floor shook so hard that they nearly fell.

Managing to keep his footing, Severus hoped that Fawkes had been able to tell the difference between 'mildly necessary interference' and 'essential interference'.

Reaching the door, Minerva shoved it open, her wand out and ready. Severus had reached forward to grab her, not liking the thought of the older woman going in first, but because she was a Gryff, she managed to elude his grasp and marched straight in.

Images of Potter, Weasley and Granger's bloodied, crushed remains lying sprawled out all over the white bathroom floor flew through his mind. He knew Evans would never forgive him.

As soon as they were in the bathroom, Severus' eyes immediately searched out the troll.

Seeing it out cold on the floor, he then quickly looked for the three first years.

Granger looked pale and quite shaken but unharmed and Weasley and Potter were both gasping for breath and looked rumpled but also unharmed.

He hurried over to the troll to make sure it was really unconscious and hadn't just decided to start taking an impromptu nap.

He barely noticed Quirrel dragging himself into the room. Severus heard a whimper and saw the man sink onto one of the toilets.

Severus exchanged a quick glance with Minerva and gave her a nod, letting her know that somehow, her three idiotic first years had decided to take on a mountain troll by themselves and had successfully knocked it out. The bloody lump on the troll's head and its nearby club attested to that.

He clenched his teeth, knowing he would be hard pressed not to throw them out of his house if they were Slytherins.

Typical Gryffs. They had wanted glory and another chance to frolic in the spot light, so they had run straight at a mountain troll with no planning, no thinking, no consideration for their own safety or the safety of the rest of the school if the troll had overpowered them and run off—since they had wasted time playing foolish heroes instead of going to get help and alerting more capable people to the troll's whereabouts.

Typical Gryff stupidity. The fact that the three of them weren't dead had nothing to do with careful planning or using their heads. It was sheer dumb luck.

He barely listened to Minerva yell at them. He felt slightly better to hear her berate her precious glory hounds for once.

That feeling evaporated as soon as he heard Granger stammer out that appalling lie about this being all her fault, since she had gone looking for the troll herself and the two boys had saved her life.

Severus knew it was a lie as soon as she'd started speaking. Not only was her tone and body language reeking of a lie, but Severus knew the girl had more than just book smarts. He hated admitting it, but she was one of the very few who showed a deeper understanding in potions class, and anybody who had the ability to understand the underlying concepts governing potions also had the ability to think properly. Granger knew that she couldn't possibly take on a mountain troll by herself and wouldn't ever consider trying.

His mood was worsened when Minerva bought the lie—never even considering the fact that her precious Gryffs would ever lie to her—but then her chosen punishment for Granger's actions were to remove five points.

Draco had lost five points yesterday for rolling his eyes when asked a simple question in tutorial the previous night. Five points was nothing, and Minerva knew it as well as he did.

But it didn't stop there.

He really didn't know how his day could get possibly worse or how his opinion of Minerva could lower itself any more, but she surprised him.

The woman who had promised to start looking at her Gryffs for who they were—idiotic glory seeking bullies—awarded Weasley and Potter both five points each, apparently for their bravery and heroic capabilities. Minerva's definition of bravery was obviously synonymous with stupidity and her definition of heroic capabilities obviously sat next to glory hounding.

Staring at her in disbelief, Severus waited until the boys had scampered off.

Minerva was sighing and staring at the troll.

"How on earth are we going to get rid of this thing? Not to mention that smell?"

When he didn't reply, she glanced at him. "Oh, don't give me that look of stunned disbelief. I took five points from Ms. Granger, didn't I? And the boys did knock out a mountain troll."

Shaking his head, Severus spun on his heel and went for the door, not bothering to answer her. Just before he went out the door, he glared at Quirrel over his shoulder.

"Professor Quirrel, seeing how you've been such tremendous help so far, we'll leave the troll clean up duties to you. I'm sure Professor McGonagall would love to supervise."

Throwing him a nasty smirk and ignoring Minerva's confused, hurt expression, he headed off towards the dungeons.

He and his elf had to recruit some of the older years to help brew some air freshening solution.


	32. Chapter 32

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 32

(A/N: If you're on my 'story alert' list, please note that for some reason, our favourite website is sending notification emails for the most recent chapter first, not the one put up first. So even if you only got an email saying that this chapter was put up, please note that I put up Chapter 31 as well, which should obviously be read first. This has happened last time too, so make a point to check previous chapters before starting new ones. The first of the new batch of chapters will ALWAYS have my main Author's Note)

'Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.'

- 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan

XXXXXX

"Too slow, Mr. Bletchley!" Severus yelled over the noise in the duelling chamber, two seconds after Adrian had ducked Miles' spell and shot a Petrificus back at him. Miles hadn't put up a shield or readied another spell after releasing the previous one and was just standing there when Adrian's spell hit him.

Adrian lifted his arms in triumph while Miles grimaced, lying ram rod straight on the floor, his wand rolling away from him. "Yes, sir."

"Mistakes?"

"I didn't remove all possible chances Adrian had to retaliate, I was too darn slow with getting out of the way, and I didn't anticipate his next action."

"In other words, you sucked, Miles! Big time!" Adrian yelled over, grinning as he cast the counter-spell at Miles.

Capable of moving his arms again, Miles glared at his duelling partner. "Yeah, thanks. I got that."

"Try again, Mr. Bletchley. And this time, don't take all year reacting and _anticipate_!"

"Yes, sir." Stretching out numb arms and legs, Miles readied his wand and went to stand before Adrian again, who was still crowing and grinning.

Severus continued walking around the room, ducking random spells. He stopped to correct Evan's wand movement for a stunner and then passed Greg and for the third time that day, reminded the boy that he was holding his wand backwards. The first year looked crestfallen and angry with himself for having been reprimanded on the same mistake three times already, when Tonks glanced over and gave him a smile.

"Don't worry, Greg! It took me months until I realized I was holding mine backwards."

Greg's eyebrows flew up. "You used to hold your wand backwards too?"

Tonks grinned. "Yup. I don't even remember how many times the professor had to correct me once he realized what I was doing."

"Seven times, Ms. Tonks. Seven wonderful times."

Tonks laughed and wiggled her eyebrows at Greg, who gave her a smile and went back to trying to levitate the pillow he had been practicing on.

While Severus corrected Tracey Davies' enunciation and grabbed Millicent's flailing wand before she put somebody's eye out, Tonks was working on endurance with the first years.

She would put an absorptive shield—not a reflective one in order to prevent disastrous ricochets—and the first years would one by one step up and cast a simple wingardium leviosa spell at the shield. Tonks would hold up her shield and absorb the spell and time the first years as they maintained the spell for however long Tonks demanded.

The spell itself didn't require much power—especially because they weren't actually levitating anything—but maintaining it was difficult. As the year went on, the time they had to maintain the spell for increased. Seventh years would be expected to partner up and cast spells at each other and maintain their own spells for five minute stretches while repelling the oncoming spell with a shield held up with their other hand.

It was difficult and exhausting, but it was the best way to build up magical endurance and strength.

"Breathe, Pansy. You're not breathing. Look at me and start breathing in on my mark. Now….breathe in….three…two….one…and breathe out….three…two…one….again, in…three…two….one…..and out, three…two….one. Good. Keep breathing."

Once Pansy's ten seconds were up, she released the spell with a gasp and locked her knees before she collapsed, and Tonks lowered her shield. "Well done, Pansy. Much better than last week. Go sit down, grab some water and relax. Theo, your turn."

Pansy wiped the sweat off her forehead and grinned at the praise. Turning around, she sauntered off to the table holding cups of water, making her way through the other first years with a smirk on her face. Holding out the ten seconds was still difficult for them at this stage.

Draco gave her a mild glare and jerked his own chin into the air. "Yeah, you're just impressed because I haven't gone yet."

"I'm not worried, Draco. Being all talk and little magic isn't that impressive," Pansy said in a sweet, innocent voice, before giving him a smile and turning back to her water.

Draco's glare hardened and Blaise laughed from where he was lounging on the floor, having done the exercise right before Pansy.

When nine o'clock rolled around, Severus said that they were done for the day, and everybody slowly trudged out of the large room, flexing sore fingers and rubbing numb arms.

Tonks snapped her fingers and one of the cups of water floated into her outstretched hands.  
Severus finished casting cleaning charms on the mats covering the floor and wandered over to her.

"Most of the first years did very well."

Tonks nodded, draining the cup. "Oh, yeah. Pansy's improved loads and Theo's getting stronger. Millicent nearly knocked me over," she chuckled.

Severus smiled. "The girl has power, but little coordination."

"If she were more coordinated, she might blast me to pieces, sir."

Having to agree, Severus headed towards the door. "Tell me you brought your last exam with you, Ms. Tonks."

Tonks stopped by the door, picked up her bag and pulled out the crumpled paper booklet. "Did you think I'd forget to bring this proof of my brilliance with me?"

"82 isn't brilliant, Ms. Tonks. It's barely acceptable in my books."

Tonks rolled her eyes and followed him down the corridor, dodging some Slytherins wandering around.

"So asides from me doing brilliantly on my exams, I've heard there was a bit of excitement here. Terence met me at the front doors to start babbling about a troll! What on earth are trolls doing in the school, sir?"

"Ah, you'll enjoy this story, Ms. Tonks. It features some of our favourite characters."

"Gryffs?"

"Oh, yes. And it features some of our favourite Gryff behaviours. Stupidity, short sightedness, lack of common sense, rash decisions, glory seeking—the works."

Tonks grinned at him, walking backwards through the potions classroom door and pushing the door open as she walked.

"Wow, stupidity and glory seeking all in one story?"

"Oh, yes. This one should definitely be heading for some hall of fame."

"Brilliant! Make sure you add the dramatic pauses in all the right places, sir, and I'll do dramatic poses as they come to me. It'll be our tribute to that most wonderful and honorable of houses!"

She threw her arms out wide and spun in a slow circle before dropping dramatically into her usual seat and Severus swept past her to go lean against his own desk, hiding his laughter in her exam paper.

XXXXXX

Throwing another mild curse at the head diving towards him, he twisted to the side, levitated himself up and threw another curse at the other two heads diving towards him, the previous head having jerked back with an outraged yelp.

He landed just inside the door and glared at it.

"I don't know how on earth to get this through your thick skulls but I need to get in there to check on the obstacles!" He snarled at Fluffy.

He'd already spent ten minutes playing a rather exhausting duelling game with Fluffy, trying to get Fluffy distracted and away from the trap door.

Wiping his forehead, he rolled up his sleeves and got himself prepared. Conjuring up another yappy little dog, he sent it towards Fluffy, watching as one head bent to snarl and snap at the dog.

Then he threw a curse at the other two heads and levitated himself up, watching both heads straining up to follow him. He considered putting another temporary blinding curse on the dog, but it had become enraged and even more violent the last time he had tried it. Generally he had learned that if he used any spell on all three heads at once, Fluffy would be even angrier than usual so he tried using different methods on the heads.

Waiting until the two heads were trying to reach him, he cast a mild freezing charm on them and then suddenly twisted and flew down towards the trap door.

He was nearly there, when the remaining head got bored of the dog and lunged at him instead.

He had just enough time to jerk himself sideways so the snapping jaws didn't close on his torso, but sank into his leg.

Swallowing a cry of pain, Severus decided that Fluffy deserved whatever he got now and threw a de-toothing curse at the jaws tearing into his leg. The moment he felt the dog's teeth receding into its jaws, Fluffy let out a yelp of pain. As soon as Severus had yanked his leg out from the gum rimmed jaws, he threw a body slammer at the monster, sending Fluffy slamming against the far wall and slump over. Hearing the dog still yelping in pain, Severus quickly undid the de-toothing curse and cast a numbing spell on the affected head. It would wear off after a few hours, after which the dog's jaw would be back to normal.

Hissing as he put weight on his injured leg, he hobbled as quickly as possible out of the room and shut the door.

Leaning against it, he grit his teeth. Damn Hagrid and his love for vicious, crazy beasts like this.

Severus had originally wanted to just throw a few good stunners at the thing and put it out, but interestingly enough, the hide of the dog was very similar to that of a giant's and required a great deal of repeated force to pierce.

And using anything stronger than a stunner on the thing made Hagrid burst into accusations that Severus wanted to cause Fluffy unnecessary pain. Since the headmaster had put Severus in charge of checking on the obstacles surrounding the stone, Severus had asked that Hagrid tell him how to get past Fluffy safely. But the headmaster had said that he wanted to keep that knowledge contained to as small of a group as possible and that he thought Fluffy was no match for Severus.

Glaring at no one in particular, Severus seethed over the fact that yes, this three headed monstrosity was a match for him. If he wasn't allowed to use lethal, or even near lethal force with it, that is.

Well, if he was going to continue being in charge of checking on the damn thing, the playing field would have to be leveled a bit.

Hobbling along, he let his anger cover his pain and made his way out of the castle and stormed across the grounds until he reached Hagrid's hut.

Limping up the steps, he pounded on the door.

Hagrid opened the door, at first grinning and then looking a bit weary at the anger on his face.

"Uhm, come on in, Professor. Don't mind Fang."

Severus limped his way inside and refused the chair Hagrid offered him and ignored an excited Fang who was being restrained by Hagrid from licking him.

"I want to know how to get past that beast of yours, Hagrid, or I will start using alternative methods on him."

"Now, Professor, you know that the headmaster said he doesn't want more people knowing—"

"He also put me in charge of checking on the damn thing, Hagrid! It's nearly killed me twice and I have yet to actually get past it to go check on the defences I'm supposed to be checking on! If I'm going to play nice, then I expect that damn thing of yours to play nice, but that's not happening. So, you either convince that monster to let me pass and do my job without killing me, or you tell me how to get past him keeping us both in one piece. If not, I can guarantee that I'll be in one piece when I come out of that room, but I can't guarantee the same for that creature."

"Professor, deep down, Fluffy is a real sweetheart! I know 'e is. You just haven't gotten to know him, 'is all."

Resisting the urge to throttle the half giant—which would be a very bad and Gryff thing to do—Severus yanked up his robes to show Hagrid his mutilated leg.

"Does this look like the work of a sweet hearted creature?"

Hagrid's eyes bulged at seeing the torn tissue and blood streaming down his leg.

"Did Fluffy do that, sir? Blimey, that's a nasty one! Let me get you some herbs—"

"I don't need any damn herbs, Hagrid! I need to know how to get past that thing so next time if won't remove my leg entirely."

Hagrid looked miserable now that he'd seen the damage his 'sweetheart' had done.

"I'm sure he's just stressed, sir. I'm sure he didn't mean it. If you go back tomorrow an' talk to him real nice, he'll be sorry and a lot more cooperative."

Severus drew himself up to his full height and let his magic sizzle and crackle around him faintly. Sometimes, Hagrid had to be reminded that he had been part of a group of the most powerful dark wizards in their country at the age of seventeen.

Hagrid took two hasty steps back and nearly fell over Fang.

"I won't ask you again, Hagrid. You either tell me or I will go through your head and find what I need. It's your choice."

"But the headmaster—"

"You leave the headmaster to me. Once I explain that I can't do my job within the restrictions he'd set, he'll agree that it was necessary. You have my word."

Finally crumbling, Hagrid nodded. "You play music for him, Professor. Something soft and melodic. A harp, a flute, classical stuff, that sorta thing. He'll fall asleep straight away and you can get past him. He'll wake up within a few seconds of the music stopping so you want to make sure you take whatever you used to make music with you when you go below."

Severus gave him a tight smile. "Finally. That wasn't so hard, was it? You have my solemn promise that I will not harm that beast of yours again unless it gets dangerously close to ending mine or somebody else's life."

"I'd appreciate that, sir."

Spinning around, Severus limped his way out of the hut and slammed the door behind him. Tightening his cloak around himself to keep out the chilly November air, he slowly made his way back up to the school, berating Fluffy, Hagrid, Quirrel and the damn steepness of the ground as he went.

Deciding to take a short cut rather than try to wind his way through hundreds of students, he headed for the courtyard instead.

His leg was throbbing by the time he was half way across the courtyard.

He still instinctually noticed groups of clustering Gryffindors as he passed by, never quite able to stop tensing up and from keeping a wary eye on them. It was the only reason he noticed Potter and those two other morons clustering together.

He was about to sweep past them without wasting breath to acknowledge their presence, but he spied an unfamiliar book in Potter's hand. Since he didn't immediately recognize the binding, he knew it couldn't be one of the boy's own school textbooks.

Which meant it was a library book.

Gritting his teeth at the thought of the clumsy idiot dropping one of the library's books onto the filthy ground, he glared at them.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?" he demanded, limping closer to them.

The boy didn't bother responding—being respectful was obviously not part of his repertoire—but merely shoved the book under his nose.

_Quidditch Through the Ages_. How wonderfully ironic and unsurprising. It was probably the only book his father had ever taken out of the library.

He should really give the idiot detention for taking the book out of the clean warmth of the school, but he could practically feel Evans standing beside him, saying that he should give him some credit for actually knowing where the library was and for having gone there. She had a point.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," he said. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

Snatching the book out of the boy's hands, he limped past them towards the doors.

He thought he could hear Evans sighing and saying he didn't have to confiscate the thing.

"I only took five points, Evans, and besides, the boy should be reading his textbooks, not a book on Quidditch. It's bad enough that he's playing on the team. First years have way too much to learn to afford being distracted by playing Quidditch. I can't change that, but I can try to force him to at least read necessary books, not rubbish like this," he murmured under his breath.

XXXXXX

His mood had only worsened by that evening. His elf had wrapped his leg for him when he'd come back from Hagrid's, tisking and grumbling that Severus hadn't called for him right away.

Severus knew he had to change the bandages before tutorial started but his blasted elf was nowhere to be found.

Severus was just coming down from telling the headmaster that Hagrid had told him how to keep that beast of his calm and was moments from calling for his elf, when Filch appeared at his elbow.

"What is it, Mr. Filch?"

"Evening, sir. Your elf is helping Poppy up in the infirmary. He wants you to go up to see Poppy and have her look at your leg, sir."

Severus scoffed and limped past Filch. "If I go see her, she'll keep me in there the entire night and I have things to do, Mr. Filch."

Filch rolled his eyes the ceiling and hid a grin. "Yes, sir. That's what your elf said you'd say, so Gorgy gave me the bandages and the disinfecting solution, sir."

Throwing a glare over his shoulder at the caretaker and glaring at the ceiling above him where his elf was, Severus realized Filch was following him for a reason and wouldn't leave him alone until he had his leg seen to.

Knowing he only had a few minutes until tutorial was about to start, Severus looked around.

"Let's go into the staffroom, Mr. Filch. I don't need nosy students seeing my leg and asking questions they shouldn't be."

"Yes, sir."

Reaching the staffroom, they pushed the door open and went into the thankfully empty room.

Severus pulled up his robes and yanked off the dirty bandage while Filch soaked the new ones in the disinfecting solution.

"Blasted thing," he muttered as he inspected his mangled leg. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Filch was just turning and handing him one of them when movement by the door caught Severus' eye.

That dark mop of messy hair could only belong to one person. "Potter!"

It wasn't enough that the brat had to be the center of attention at all times but now he was being nosy on top of it.

Yanking his robes down to cover the injury, he debated obliviating the boy. He had no idea how long the git had been eavesdropping. He decided against it. The headmaster would have his head for obliviating the golden boy, not to mention that Filch was a witness.

He felt himself getting furious. As if he didn't have enough things going on at the moment without having the brat digging around in things that were none of his business and way beyond his capabilities.

Potter blinked at him. "I just wondered if I could have my book back."

So he wasn't only eavesdropping and barging into rooms without knocking first, now he wanted his little book back. As if the entire world existed to please Potter and if something didn't quite fit with his view of it, it would be altered. Outrageous.

"Get out! Out!" He yelled.

The boy looked shocked and quickly scampered out of the room.

Filch had jumped back at his burst of temper.

"Unbelievable," Severus hissed under his breath. "Are they born rude, Mr. Filch or is it something that they learn at a young age?"

Filch grinned. "I wouldn't know, sir."

Severus took a moment to study the caretaker. He had never had much interaction with Filch, either as a student or a professor, but now that he thought about it, the caretaker was one of the more intelligent people in the school. From a Slytherin perspective at least.

He was still a bit too obsessive about clean floors and eradicating the presence of fanged Frisbees, but Severus found himself actually appreciated the old man.

"I hope you never do, Mr. Filch."

Filch gave him a grin and continued preparing the bandages while Severus pulled his robe back up.


	33. Chapter 33

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 33

A/N: Ahh, the joys of settling into a school routine once again! As promised, here are the next two chapters. We get to discover a certain mirror and watch a very special Quidditch match, complete with a foul, bickering, arson and attempted murder. Enjoy!

EDIT: I totally forgot to answer Lettuce's questions! I'm so sorry! Concerning Snape's hatred of Harry, I think the dominant factor behind it is simply the fact that he sees Harry as being a lot more like James. He resents the fact that Lily sacrificed her life to save someone who is very much like James. And from a purely selfish POV, he hates the fact that Harry's walking around and Lily isn't. Having Harry in his life doesn't give him anything, but having Lily back in his life would. Also, I have to say I found it curious when you said that my Snape 'got over' his hatred for Lucius and should have been able to do the same with James. First of all, James (and the other marauders) never did anything to warrant having Snape forgive them or even want to, but also, I thought I had made it clear that Severus despises Lucius as much, possibly more than the marauders. He's just using Lucius now, but if he didn't need him, he'd be the first to kill him. I'm sorry if that hasn't come across as being very clear. That's probably my bad. And lastly, never apologize for leaving a long review (or two)! I tend to blabber on and on about a subject I'm passionate about too, so the more discussion, the happier I get (and the more I tend to write). Cheers!

'You can care for the living or weep for the dead, but you can't do both.'

- 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan

XXXXXX

"So then I asked Mixie to use a bit of the lavender scented cleaner in the stall with the crack running up the paint, you know the one, right?"

It was a sad, sad fact of his life that Severus actually knew exactly which stall Myrtle was talking about.

"Why would you want to put lavender scented cleaner in that stall?"

"Because I had her put the mint scented one in my own stall—that's the new one I got for my Deathday this year."

"I know, Myrtle. I was there."

"Anyway, I think people would be more inclined to visit if the bathroom had a nicer smell to it, so I'm experimenting with different cleaners."

"You think people don't visit you because they don't like the smell of generic toilet bowl cleaner?"

"I've looked at this from angles, Severus! It's the only possible explanation. I mean, I've got loads of friends—you, Sir Nick, Gabby, the headmaster—so I know there isn't a problem with me."

"Unless there's a problem with all of those people you just mentioned, Myrtle."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sight of Pansy and Daphne coming towards them, their warm winter cloaks pulled over their nightgowns.

"Ms. Parkinson, Ms. Greengrass, what are you both doing out of bed? And Ms. Greengrass, where are you slippers?"

When they got closer, he could see that Daphne's face was covered in tearstreaks.

"Daphne's homesick, sir," Pansy said, rolling her eyes slightly. "She didn't want to come see you by herself so I brought her. I told her you'd be by for bed checks soon anyway, but she insisted we come now."

"That's fine, Ms. Parkinson. It was good of you to accompany her. Go back to your dorm. Ms. Greengrass, come with me."

Casting a charm on Daphne's feet to warm them—and remembering a certain Gryff who had used the same charm many years ago—he went into his office with a hiccupping Daphne shuffling along beside him.

Once they were in his office, he immediately went to the small cupboard he kept some essential potions in and pulled out a vial of the dream potion he made for the insomniacs and homesick students.

She already knew the drill and dutifully swallowed the potion and handed the empty vial back to him.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. Let's get you back to bed."

Once they reached the common room, he was about to start climbing up to the girl's dormitories, when Daphne paused at the foot of the steps.

"Sir, could, could you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

Severus frowned. "Has the potion not been working properly?"

"Oh, it does, sir," she hiccupped, wiping her face with her sleeve. "But that's part of the problem. See, the potion lets you dream about whatever you think about, right? But I go to sleep thinking about my parents so I wake up missing them even more, and the next night is harder."

Severus couldn't believe he'd never seen this enormous loophole where his potion was concerned.

He debated bringing Daphne back up to her bed and sitting with her in her room, but didn't want to start any appearances of favouritism.

"I'll stay with you on the couches until you fall asleep, Ms. Greengrass."

He sat down on the couch and Daphne climbed up beside him and curled up on it. Pointing his wand at her dorm room, he summoned her blanket and wrapped it around her.

He'd just leaned back and was staring up at the ceiling where Myrtle was swooping around, when he felt Daphne shifting around. Moments later, his arm was lifted and the small first year burrowed her way underneath his arm and put her head on his lap. Then she pulled his arm back down and kept her fingers tangled in the sleeve of his robe.

"What should I think about, sir?"

"Anything you like."

"I can't think of anything but my parents."

Severus gave the matter some thought. It wouldn't do to tell her stories that would rile her up, so Quidditch stories were out. So were funny stories of past pranks and class mishaps.

Finally, he got an idea.

"Do you know how Christmas is done at the school, Ms. Greengrass?"

She shook her head.

Smiling to himself, he leaned back, gently wrapping his other arm around her and settling back against the couch.

He started by telling her about the twelve Christmas trees that Hagrid cut down and brought into the Hall. It would take him all day to decide which trees were old enough and strong enough to support all the decorations. Then he told her how the twelve trees were decorated, four of them representing each house and the other eight whatever decoration scheme the headmaster came up with. He spent long minutes describing decorations of past years and what each house tree usually had on them. Then he told her how he and Hagrid decorated the outside of the school every year, tossing up strings of blinking, shimmering balls and putting up shooting stars and twinkling ornaments that could be charmed to jump around the roof tiles.

Daphne didn't interrupt him as he spoke, she only sighed softly and snuggled deeper into his robes. At some point, Myrtle floated down beside him and whispered that she was asleep.

Carefully leaning over, he saw that she was indeed in dreamland, hopefully dreaming about twinkling lights and forest green Christmas trees.

Picking her up, he carefully brought her up to her bed and laid her down, gently extracting his sleeve from her grip.

Then he checked the other sleeping girls in the room, making sure none of them were staring up at the ceiling, reading under their covers or hiding tears. When he saw that they were all in their right beds and fast asleep, he went to the next dorm. Stopping by the door, he moved a hand over it and made it transparent. Peering inside, he checked who was in what bed and what they were doing, and then went on.

Once he was finished with his own Slytherins, he made his way out of the common room towards the Hufflepuffs. Myrtle was trailing along with him again, continuing their conversation as if they had never been interrupted.

"So I've been getting the elves to come and sniff around the stalls and tell me which scent they prefer. So far, the lavender and rosehip ones are high favourites, but Ruddy really prefers the pine and the headmaster likes the new mint one, so I'm quite torn."

They reached the Hufflepuff common room and Severus whispered the password at the garden painting and it opened a crack.

Not wanting to be seen by any of the Puffs who were going to the bathroom, he send a spell towards each dorm room and waited until a frozen image of the inside of each room came floating out to him.

He studied the images, counting the people in the beds and checking to make sure they were really sleeping. When he was satisfied that the Puffs were doing what they were supposed to be doing, he quietly shut the portrait.

He trailed upstairs towards the Gryff common room next, Myrtle still chattering on.

The Fat Lady smiled as soon as she saw him. "Good evening, Professor. You're usually by sooner."

"I had a homesick Slytherin in the dungeons."

"Ah, I see."

She waited patiently until he told her the password and then she swung forward a small crack.

He cast the same spells at each door, waiting for the frozen pictures to drift out to him. He studied each picture—spending an extra second making sure that dark headed brat was fast asleep— and then allowed Myrtle to fly through the pictures to destroy them.

He gave the Fat Lady a nod. "Thank you. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Thank _you_, Professor. I'll be dozing, just wake me up when it's time for the next check. Just please don't poke me. You know how ticklish I am."

He shot her a grin over his shoulder as he quietly started down the stairs. "Perhaps if you were a lighter sleeper, my lady, I wouldn't have to poke you. Nor would we have Gryffs running around at night."

Ignoring her grumbling, he went towards the Claw towers.

"You know, I'm glad you're doing all the bed checks this year. You're much more at ease now with the Fat Lady than you used to be," Myrtle remarked, floating above his head.

Severus didn't bother pointing out that he forced himself not to think about the fact that it was the Gryff common room he was checking and not just some other common room. He had to do the check, but that didn't mean he was ready to face the memories that came with that common room. The Fat Lady never tried to bring up any potential painful discussions and kept their conversations professional and to the point.

Severus hoped she knew how unbelievably grateful he was for that.

Realizing that Severus wasn't in the mood to discuss that particular topic, Myrtle did a loop in mid air and then went back to discussing her efforts at making her bathroom smell nicer.

They reached the Claw towers and dutifully answered the question that was asked of them and did the spell, checked each room's picture and then destroyed them.

Turning back towards his dungeons, Severus longingly thought about his bed. He had two hours of sleep to look forward to before getting up to do another check. After that, he'd sleep for fourty-three minutes and then do another check.

He let his elf pick the random schedules of bed checks for each night but insisted the old elf not accompany him and get a full night's rest instead. Keeping such a strange sleeping pattern wasn't a problem for Severus, since he'd been doing it for years and had stopped requiring long amounts of sleep years ago.

He was just passing by the library when a huffing Mr. Filch ran up to him. "Sir, Hagrid's asking for me to come and give him a hand. One of the young Thestrals is picking a fight with Tenebrus and is keeping the centaurs up. Bane's threatening to deal with the situation himself if Hagrid doesn't see to it."

Severus nodded. "Do you need assistance?"

"It's alright, sir. I'm just going to make sure Bane doesn't overstep his authority with Hagrid."

"Send an elf for me if you need me. Have you finished your rounds?"

"I just have the last bit of the second floor to do, sir. The area past Professor Flitwick's office."

"I'll finish up for you."

While Filch ran off towards the castle doors, Severus went back down to the second floor.

When they reached it, Myrtle suddenly wondered out loud what kind of smells could be produced when the cleaners were mixed and she zoomed off to see who was awake to help her. Severus left her to it, just calling after her not to wake anybody up.

He poked his head into the different rooms, some of them empty classrooms covered in dust and others packed full of broken desks and chairs.

He stopped at Filius' office and made sure it was empty too, and then went on to the last room left on that floor.

Opening it up, he poked his head inside, seeing the usual jumble of old desks, chairs and dust bunnies. Seeing no movement in the room, he was about to shut the door and go to bed, when he spied an enormous mirror leaning against the wall.

He frowned. Why on earth would a mirror be in this classroom? It wasn't even covered up to protect it.

Then he saw tracks in the dust on the floor and realized that somebody must have dragged the mirror in recently.

He warily pulled out his wand and cast a few diagnostic spells at it, but could detect no dark energy around it.

He decided to take a closer peek at it and make sure it was really harmless, after which he'd go to bed and ask the headmaster what on earth such a beautiful object was doing in such a dusty, old classroom first thing at breakfast tomorrow.

He approached it from the side, keeping a wary eye behind him for anybody coming in. Who knew when the owner of the mirror would decide to check up on it?

When he reached it, he realized there was something written along the edge of the mirror. Lighting the tip of his wand and leaning in closer, he ran a careful finger over the words. They weren't Latin, nor any other dialect he knew.

He took a step back, puzzling over the words.

Then movement from the mirror caught his attention. He thought it was just his own reflection, but then he realized that he hadn't moved, so his reflection shouldn't have either.

Already thinking of what possible dangers lurked within the mirror, he pulled his wand up and stepped directly in front of the mirror—

And Lily Evans was suddenly standing before him.

He was so surprised that he took a hasty step back, stepped on the edge of his robe and fell to the floor.

He stared at the image in the mirror, hardly daring to believe his own eyes.

She was grinning at him, green eyes sparkling with mischief and humor and her red hair was tied back in the braid that she'd kept it in whenever she was in the middle of doing something important.

She was laughing at him in the mirror, waving at him, and when he just kept staring at him, she laughed harder and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Evans?" he whispered.

She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, still grinning and wiggled her eyebrows at him.

"What the hell is going on? How are you here?"

She didn't answer, only crossed her eyes and made a funny face at him.

He was going insane. That was what was happening here. His best friend who had lain in her grave for over ten years couldn't possibly be in a mirror.

Pulling himself across the floor and keeping his wand and eyes glued to the image in the mirror, he finally managed to get himself to the door.

Slamming it shut behind him, he scrambled to his feet and took off down the corridor.

He didn't stop until he reached the headmaster's office, nearly fell up the revolving staircase and burst into the bedroom.

"What the hell is that mirror?" he cried.

Albus had jerked awake, eyes wide with confusion and a hint of panic.

"Wh—what? Mirror? Severus are you alright? Are the children alright?"

Severus waved off the questions. "They're fine. But I don't think I am. I saw Evans, headmaster! I saw her!"

Albus blinked and rubbed a hand over his face. "How much sleep have you been getting?"

"I'm not sleep deprived, but either I'm going crazy, or there's something sinister about that mirror and why are we keeping it in the castle if it is?"

"Mirror? What mirror? In the bathrooms?"

"No! The mirror in the old classroom on the second floor by Filius' office!"

The headmaster blinked a few more times before he finally understood.

"The Mirror of Erised, you mean?"

"The mirror of what?"

"Of Erised, Severus."

"What the hell is that? Is it connected to the dead somehow?"

"Oh, no, no, no! It isn't evil, Severus. It's really quite simple. The mirror shows us our heart's greatest desires."

"I never lusted after Evans."

Dumbledore gave a small snort of laughter and then grew sad as he stared at the young man leaning over his bed. "What is the one thing you desire more than anything else? More than teaching defense and defeating Tom?"

That was easy. "Having Evans back."

"And that is what the mirror showed you. Lily Evans alive and whole, just the way you remember her."

Severus sank onto the edge of the bed. "So nobody else can see what I see in it?"

"Not unless somebody else desperately wishes for Lily Evans to be alive. But the Lily Evans they would see would be different than the Lily Evans you see."

Letting that sink in for a few moments, Severus returned to his original question.

"What is it doing here?"

"Ahh, I'm so glad you asked. I've finally come up with the best possible place to hide the stone."

"The room at the end of the obstacle course."

"Yes, of course, but I didn't want to just leave the stone lying around in there. I could put up many formidable defences, of course, but those could ultimately be defeated. I wanted something very tricky and I think the mirror will be the key for that."

"A mirror that portrays one's desires would be difficult to use as a protection for a stone."

"Yes, I know. Which is why I have to give the idea more thought and then start playing around with the enchantments around the mirror."

Severus nodded. Now that he knew the mirror meant no harm and he was sane—well, more or less—he felt a burning desire to go see the mirror again.

He hadn't seen her in so long. He didn't have any pictures of her or any other objects that reminded him of her. There was the castle itself of course, but that was different.

This was his chance to actually see her the way he remembered her, and that was something he had always thought would only ever happen in his memories.

He was about to get up when Albus caught his sleeve. "I'd like you to go to bed, dear. Leave the mirror be."

Severus straightened abruptly, anger rushing through him. "I just want to look, headmaster! I won't mess around with the enchantments."

"I know you won't. That's not the point. That mirror is a lot more dangerous than you think."

"How is looking at my best friend dangerous?"

Albus gave him a long look. "You know the answer to that as well as I do."

Severus tightened his jaw. "Are you going to forbid me to see her?"

Albus sighed. "You're an adult, Severus. You make your own decisions. I know you miss her and I know what a wonderful gift this seems right now, but please, treat this gift cautiously. There's a reason we don't hang these types of mirrors in every bathroom and dormitory."

"I'll be fine. It's just a mirror, headmaster." Spinning on his heel, Severus marched out.

Albus knew where he was going, of course. He wished he didn't know that this would probably end badly, but Severus had never been one to really learn from what others told him.

The mirror would be moved soon enough anyway.

Albus just hoped that the damage done before then would be minimal.

XXXXXX

He was so desperately afraid that he wouldn't see her when he got back to the mirror that he ran all the way from the headmaster's office back to the mirror.

But there she was, laughing and winking at him.

When he came to a panting stop before her, he stood and stared. She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow as if she knew he'd think her being there was something sinister.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't understand. Besides, you scared the hell out of me. I don't see you for ten years, and suddenly you're here. Well, you're not really here, are you? But it's the next best thing, isn't it?"

She laughed and spun around. She looked exactly like she had that day when they'd come back to the castle after he'd taken Xira out for that ride after being bed ridden for so long from withdrawal. She'd spun around just like she was doing now.

_"You know what I wish, Sev?"_

_"What?"_

_"I wish I could find a way to bottle up sunshine and take it home with me and pour it all over my house so it would be sunny all the time."_

He almost laughed at the memory and she laughed with him in the mirror, as if she too was remembering that day.

Lowering himself to the floor, he ignored the dust that would get all over his robes and stared into the mirror.

"We had a lot of fun that day, huh? I was exhausted and damn irritated with you for making me go outside and run around, but you nagged and whined until I went, didn't you?"

She gave him a wink.

"Yeah, I know. Gryffs know best, don't you? Yeah, you keep thinking that."

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at him again.

Before he knew it, the hours had slipped by. Thoughts of doing another bed check were long forgotten, as was the fact that he was talking to nothing more than a reflection in a mirror.


	34. Chapter 34

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 34

'They say the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Assume it's true until you can prove otherwise.'

- _Andromeda_, 'Double Helix'

XXXXX

Severus heard Minerva let out a little growl as Marcus snatched the Quaffle straight out of the air after Alicia Spinnet had done an absolutely shoddy pass towards Angelina Johnson.

"Explain to me again why you moved that girl out of the reserves?" Severus asked, leaning towards her and ducking as she tried to smack him.

"If that captain of yours didn't—"

"Didn't what? Know how to catch properly? Yes, I truly apologize about that. I must tell him to be more incompetent. It wouldn't do to embarrass Gryffs this way."

Even while trading barbs they kept their eyes glued to the game. Marcus' throw towards the hoops had unfortunately been stopped by Wood and then Katie Bell was streaking towards Miles Bletchley. Julian smacked a Bludger her way and nailed her right in the back—after which Severus smirked with satisfaction and Minerva scowled—and Adrian neatly scooped up the dropped Quaffle. Unfortunately, Adrian was also hit by a Bludger, this time courtesy of the Weasley twins, making Severus scowl and Minerva smirk. Angelina Johnson scooped up the Quaffle and flew towards Miles, took aim, threw it and Miles dove—and the Quaffle scraped past his fingertips and soared through the hoops. Minerva clapped loudly and smirked harder and Severus glowered at her.

"You just wait. The season's just started. We just didn't want to scare you off too soon or disappoint you. It wouldn't do to have little Gryffs stomping their little feet and throwing little temper tantrums all over the place, would it?"

"My Gryffindors do not have temper tantrums!"

"What are we calling it then? Oh, yes, pardon me. They're 'strong-willed'."

The headmaster reached down when Minerva reached over to smack him again.

"Minerva, try to contain yourself. It's just a game."

Both Minerva and Severus shot him a look and Albus wisely leaned back and loudly tried to engage Filius in a discussion concerning the weather.

While the headmaster tried to conduct his conversation with Flitwick—who was getting harder of hearing every year and couldn't understand a word anybody said over the screaming, cheering and yelling going on around the stands—Severus and Minerva went back to watching the game.

No sooner had they refocused their attention that Severus saw Terence suddenly going into a dive. Following the sixth year's flight direction, Severus could just see the Snitch. Minerva had taken out her binoculars and was letting out small whimpers as Terence gained on it.

Unfortunately, Adrian had also seen it and dropped the Quaffle as he stopped mid air to stare at the fluttering golden ball. Severus made a mental note to berate the third year for not keeping his mind and eyes on his own task. The game didn't stop once the Seekers had something to do!

Severus was about to start smirking again, when Potter spun in the air and streaked after Terence, also having seen the Snitch. He grit his teeth when he saw Potter easily overtaking Terence in the race towards the golden ball. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Potter was a natural on the broom. Not to mention that Terence was bigger and heavier.

Damn, they really were going to have to replace their Seeker next year. He knew Draco had originally had his heart set on trying out as a Chaser, but the rivalry between the two first year boys had grown to such heights that Draco had been doing Seeker drills instead and hadn't mentioned trying out for any other position than the Seeker one next September.

Hopefully once they were playing against each other they'd find time to actually search for the Snitch instead of just trying to kill each other.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he refocused on the game. If this kept up, their winning streak where the Quidditch Cup was concerned might end after the past seven years.

Thankfully, Marcus was doing his job as Captain and wasn't only keeping an eye on the Quaffle, but saw Potter gaining on the Snitch much more rapidly than their own Seeker. Knowing the game could be over in a matter of seconds, Flint did what Severus was hoping he would.

He swooped in and blocked Potter, slamming hard into the first year and distracting him enough to let the Snitch get away.

Severus only started breathing again when the Snitch had disappeared, ignoring Minerva's outraged yelling. She was standing up, turning from the pitch to him and back again to yell at his players and him in turn, berating them for brute tactics.

Once she'd calmed down a bit, she turned and started berating that moron Jordan Lee for biased commentating. The fact that she was biased was expected and perfectly alright, but the fact that a commentator was biased wasn't.

Why she still allowed him to commentate when he was so obviously biased was beyond Severus. He hardly ever heard a word the Gryff said—having watched enough Quidditch to be able to follow the action without having somebody commentate for him—but he still glared at Minerva every year that she allowed Lee to continue commentating.

Predictably, the Gryffs were given a penalty for the body slamming but Marcus glanced up and Severus gave him a small nod. Giving the Gryffs the opportunity to get another ten points was nothing compared to letting them have 150 points and ending the game.

Not to mention the damage in house morale that would result in the Gryffs starting out the Quidditch season with over 150 points with them only having 20.

The Gryffs predictably scored on the penalty, at which Severus made a big show of clapping loudly and turning to Minerva and congratulating her on such a difficult goal and having such talented Chasers, while she smirked back at him, declaring he was just jealous that they'd scored another goal. Meanwhile, his Slytherins took their cue from him and clapped politely and yelled 'well done, very difficult goal that was, well done!' over at the Gryffs.

Their attention returned to the game and they watched as Marcus grabbed the Quaffle and flew past Spinnet and past Bell and completely failed to notice the Bludger heading right for him until it hit him straight in the face.

Severus sat up with a jerk, hoping the impact hadn't knocked Marcus out, but the Chaser just shook his head, wiped his bloody nose on his sleeve and kept flying. Relieved, Severus sat back down, only pausing to glare at Jordan when the Gryff expressed his hopes that his captain had broken his nose. His irritation with the Gryff vanished when Marcus managed to score a goal on Wood moments later.

Moments later, he heard Minerva let out a "What on earth is the boy doing? Doesn't he know how high up he is?"

Severus followed her gaze and saw Potter's broom dancing and jerking around wildly, nearly unseating the Gryff.

Severus shrugged. "Perhaps he was getting irritated at having to share the limelight with his entire team. Putting on a dancing show on a Nimbus in the middle of a game is clearly the only way he can think of to refocus attention on—"

The rest of the insult died on his lips when the boy's broom suddenly spun over, leaving Potter hanging upside down. The broom then gave a violent jerk and the boy was left holding on with just one hand.

"Severus, I don't think Harry's doing that! Merlin! I don't think he's doing that! What are we going to do?"

Severus knew they could easily catch the boy if he fell, but he was afraid that whoever was controlling the broom—for it was quite obvious that somebody was controlling the broom with sinister intentions—might end up making the broom fly straight into the wall of the stands and kill the boy before releasing the broom from its curse.

Not to mention that he or she could kill the boy while he was falling too.

Standing up, Severus ignored the panicked yelling around himself and started muttering what he hoped was the right counter-curse.

It had no effect on the broom, so he switched to another one. It still didn't stop the broom's random jerking, so he tried yet another one.

He saw the broom stilling, but it wasn't enough. He kept muttering, focusing more and directing more energy towards the broom. Whoever was controlling it was using some damn powerful magic.

He was so focused on muttering and trying to blink as little as possible to maintain the stream of magic that the feeling of heat by his legs and the smell of burning fabric took a few seconds to penetrate.

He moved his hand down to his side and immediately burnt the tips of his fingers before he yanked them back.

Minerva had glanced down and let out a yelp, confirming that he was indeed on fire. He kept on chanting, starting to notice that it was getting easier to keep the broom still and he gradually slowed the incantation and noticed the broom remaining normal.

Finally he dared to glance down and saw the burnt edges of his wonderful green Slytherin Quidditch robes.

Scowling, he thought about who on earth would set him on fire while he was trying to save the brat's life, but the thoughts were interrupted by a wild cheer from the Gryffs and Jordan Lee and a cry of dismay from his Slytherins.

Potter had damn near swallowed the Snitch on his way down.

Severus could already see Marcus flying towards Madame Hooch, yelling and gesturing and saw Julian throwing his bat down in frustration.

They had a murderer in their midst, a possible arsonist and now his house had lost the first match of the year.

This day was turning out wonderfully.

XXXXXX

Severus and Minerva both followed Albus immediately after he dismissed the students after the match.

None of them spoke as they went into the school and went up to the headmaster's office.

Once they reached it, Albus immediately went to the closet where he kept his pensieve.

Severus nodded approvingly, having had the same idea.

Somebody had tried to murder one of their students and it was somebody capable of astoundingly strong dark magic. No student had enough power or knowledge to control a Nimbus 2000 in such a way, especially when a wizard with Severus' knowledge and power was trying to counter the effects.

Albus put his pensieve on his desk and pulled out his thoughts about the match.

Minerva hovered by the desk.

"I'll stay and keep watch. This is both of your area of expertise more than it is mine. I wouldn't really know what to look for anyway."

Nodding, Severus turned to the headmaster, who gave him a quick glance. "When you're ready, Severus."

He nodded again and stepped up to the pensieve. One by one, they slipped head first into the silver gassy liquid.

They fell through the air above the pitch, Evan Bole flying right through him and a Bludger sailing right through the headmaster.

They landed on the grass and straightened. Severus looked up and studied the scoreboard and the position of the players.

"The Snitch should appear at any moment, headmaster. Mr. Flint will commit the foul, the Gryffs will get the penalty, Mr. Flint will nearly break his nose and then we'll see who's trying to kill the precious golden brat."

They went to the edge of the pitch, staring up into the stands. Severus heard a howl behind him as Marcus committed his foul.

He heard Madame Hooch blowing a whistle and heard the encouraging cheers from the Gryffs as Alicia Spinnet took the penalty and scored.

Finally, he glanced over his shoulder up to where Potter was and saw his broom starting to dance and twitch, completely out of his control.

Immediately, he turned his attention back to the stands.

Just on a hunch, Severus searched through the part of the stands where the teachers sat. He saw himself clapping politely at the penalty shot and Minerva scowling at him. He saw Filius in deep conversation with the headmaster, neither of them really paying attention to the game. Pomona Sprout was cheering for the penalty shot Alicia Spinnet had gotten against the Slytherins. Charity Burbage was reading a book, not paying attention to anything around her.

And Quirrel was clutching the railing before him, staring at Potter's broom with wide eyes, muttering words under his breath.

And Severus would bet a year's pay that he wasn't muttering pleas that the boy didn't fall.

Hurrying through the stands and climbing right through the other people, he reached Quirrel in record time.

Leaning in close, he heard the man muttering the words of a dark curse mean to control inanimate objects which required extraordinary strength and knowledge of such curses to counter. If the headmaster and he hadn't been in the stands, Potter would probably be dead by now.

Severus leaned back, studying the muttering man. He didn't seem a bit nervous or twitchy. He seemed eerily focused on his task, something his Slytherins had been telling him the man hadn't proven capable of in class since September.

"Severus? I think we've seen enough. Let's go back and discuss this."

Severus shot a glare at Quirrel and leaned in close. "You dare and try that again, you'll live to regret it," he hissed at him before turning and going back to where Albus was reaching up a hand for him.

Once he'd grabbed the headmaster's hand, he felt himself being jerked upwards and moments later, they landed on the floor of his office.

Shaking himself slightly to re-orient himself, Severus gratefully sat down in the chair Minerva pulled out for him.

"It was Quirrel," Severus said.

Minerva recoiled with a gasp. "You're certain? Of course you're certain. Why else would you have said it?"

She sat down in the other chair, eyes wide while Albus sat in his own seat.

"Albus, why would that man want to kill one of my Gryffindors?"

The headmaster exchanged a look with Severus and he shrugged. They might as well tell Minerva what they knew, since it did concern one of her Gryffs and having a third head thinking through the puzzle that was Quirinus Quirrel was better than two.

Severus told her about the dark magic he'd been sensing around Quirrel ever since the man got back from his so called vacation. He also told her how he'd caught Quirrel possibly trying to get to the stone while the troll had been let in during Halloween Feast and that the man himself must have been behind the troll being in there in the first place.

Minerva blinked. "But why would the man want the stone and why on earth would he want Harry Potter dead?"

That gave Severus pause. Minerva was right. The two things were completely separate. If somebody wanted to get their hands on the stone, killing Potter wouldn't bring them any closer to that goal in any direct or indirect way.

Wanting to kill Potter had to be personal. But who on earth would want the boy dead and at the same time want a stone that gave the owner money and immortality?

……Harry Potter dead…..immortality…..

Severus sat up with a gasp, eyes widening.

"Headmaster! It's him!"

Albus sighed and gave him a long look. "I've come to the same conclusion. He's the only one I can think of for whom both objectives would make perfect sense."

Severus' mind was churning through the evidence they had. "The dark magic! Headmaster! You know what this means! He's not just working with him, he's probably a _part_ of him!"

The horror of that statement nearly made Severus fall off his chair.

Minerva was looking back and forth between them. "What? Who is 'he'? Quirrel?"

"No, Minerva. Voldemort."

Minerva gave a much louder gasp than he had and paled. "What? No! How? No, no, no! Albus! No!"

Severus had given a twitch at hearing the name. His mark was faint enough not to burn with irritation at having the name of the Dark Lord uttered, but it was a habit he had never broken of.

"I'm very much afraid we're correct, Minerva. All the evidence supports it. We know Tom didn't vanish entirely and we know he must blame Harry for what happened to him. In addition, having the stone would give Tom immortality once he's regained his body. All that, in addition to the fact that Quirrel is carrying an enormous amount of dark magic around that clearly wasn't a part of him before he left us all point to the same conclusion."

Minerva looked as horrified as Severus felt. "You-Know-Who is in this castle in one of our professors heads? A professor teaching the children and walking amongst them every day?"

Severus clenched his hands into fists, feeling like his worst nightmare could possibly come true. That monster of a being was walking around amongst his students, his Slytherins! He probably watched them as they sat in Defense class, staring at him through Quirrel's eyes. He probably hungered for them, especially the first years. He probably craved their innocent minds and their innocent bodies, wanting to mold them into the twisted, horrifying things that Bella had become and he nearly had.

"We should throw him out! Today! Right now!"

Severus was about to support Minerva's statement, his heart pounding with fear for the children—their children. He wanted to have that monster far, far away from his home and Slytherins.

But as he raised his eyes and saw the headmaster's sad but determined look, he knew they couldn't.

"He has to stay, Minerva. For as long as possible," Severus said quietly.

She rounded on him, staring at him furiously. "How can you say that? Don't tell me you want him near you! After all he's done to you and after what he did to L—"

Severus slammed his fists onto the armrest. "Don't say her name!"

They glared at each other for a long moment until Severus took a deep breath. "I don't want him near me, I don't want him near the children and I certainly don't want him anywhere near my home or my Slytherins. The thought of him sleeping only floors above them every night makes me sick, but we need this opportunity, Minerva."

"What opportunity?"

Albus leaned forward. "We have no idea how much of Tom is really left and what that bit is capable of. We don't know how fast he's gaining strength or what control he exerts over Quirinus. We don't know what vulnerabilities he has in this condition or how much power he has. This is an opportunity we might never get again, Minerva, and we must not waste it! We need to learn everything we can about Tom while he's in this form so we might use it to defeat him. I won't say that I don't wish I could go downstairs and blast him to pieces, but I don't want to hurt Quirinus—who I might remind you might not have had a choice about any of this—and I don't want to risk having Tom transfer to one of the students and kill them. Asides from that, we can't just unleash Tom into the world. We are extremely lucky in these circumstances, Minerva."

"How?"

Severus sighed too, hating it but knowing it was true. "He's after the stone. If he thinks we've discovered that he's possessed Quirrel, he might leave and who knows where or in whom he'll end up. As long as he doesn't have the stone and thinks we're none the wiser, I think all of us are relatively safe for now."

"Except for Harry."

Severus exchanged a look with Albus. "He'll probably try again, headmaster. You know him. He doesn't give a damn if he ends up blowing his cover if he gets what he wants. I think his hatred for the boy is probably greater than his desire to get the stone. If the opportunity presents itself, he'll kill the boy, no matter how many witnesses or how bad the circumstances."

Minerva looked close to tears but kept her composure. "I'll take him off the team."

"No," Severus said. "Don't get me wrong. I'd love for you to have to replace your Seeker mid season, but we can't give him any clues that we're on to him. We have to let him think that we think the broom just started having a fit for no reason."

Minerva still looked concerned. "You want me to let the boy continue to fly around in the air while a murderer is watching his every move?"

"Severus will referee the next Gryffindor match, Minerva. Argus and Severus will also continue doing nightly rounds, and I believe Severus has had the elves tailing Quirinus at every possible moment. The moment he tries something, we'll be onto him."

Severus heard the unspoken 'I hope' at the end. They all knew how clever the Dark Lord could be when he wanted to be. And he'd had a long time to think this through.

For the first time in his life, Severus found himself hoping that Potter would have that particular brand of Gryffindor luck following him around.

"So I'm correct in assuming we're going to keep Potter in the dark about all of this?"

Albus and Minerva exchanged a quick glance and then nodded.

"He's too young to know about all of this. There's too much he doesn't understand and doesn't know. Besides, what does he have that could possibly help him fight against the most powerful dark wizard of our time, Severus? Being a good flier?"

Severus shook his head. "Luck. Gryffindor luck."

"And you," Minerva added after a short silence.

Severus jerked his head up and glared at Albus, who raised his hands. "I never said a word, my boy. I promised."

Minerva gave him a soft smile. "Honestly, I should be insulted you take me for such a fool. But before you start berating me and complaining and demanding promises of silence, I promise you, Harry won't hear about any of it from me."

Severus settled back in his chair and exchanged a long look with Fawkes.

He couldn't believe it was just November.


	35. Chapter 35

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 35

A/N: Just one chapter this week, guys. Sorry. School this year is even crazier than I thought it was going to be. I did manage to squeeze Bella into another little scene here, and we get to see a Slytherin style Christmas and more adventures with that lovely mirror. Enjoy!

Lettuce – you're absolutely right that Sev managed to see past his hatred of Lucius to take care of Draco, but can't get himself to do the same with Harry. I guess one difference would be the fact that Draco doesn't idolize his father and doesn't act like him, and Harry—even if unknowingly—acts very much like his father. In later years, once Harry's head is filled with glorious nonsense about James Potter, he'll start idolizing his father too, which will really irritate Severus. EDIT: I WASN'T CLEAR ON WHAT I MEANT BY SAYING HARRY UNKNOWINGLY ACTS VERY MUCH LIKE HIS FATHER. PLEASE DISREGARD THIS AND SEE THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR A BETTER EXPLANATION.

As for the question concerning Sev's need for a more 'active' social life, I will leave you to fill in the blanks however you wish. There are so many things going on in this story that I can't put in everything—Theo's dentist appointments, every potion lesson/tutorial/quidditch practice, every Sunday dinner at the Tonks etc—but that doesn't mean that these things don't happen. Some people do prefer to think of Sev as a more asexual type of person—a person who just naturally has a low sex drive and doesn't feel the urge for that kind of intimacy very often, and I do know quite a few people like that—or you can think of him sneaking down to Hogsmeade from time to time to see who's hanging out in the Three Broomsticks. Of course, his childhood would also influence how he feels in such situations. Choose whichever version you think fits best. (by the way, if you want, you can leave me your email addy in your reviews and I can email you responses to your questions and you don't have to wait for me to update to answer you)

'In a perfect world this could never happen. In a perfect world you'd still be here and it makes no sense. I can just pick up the pieces but to you this means nothing, nothing at all. I used to think that I was strong until the day it all went wrong. I think I need a miracle to make it through. I wish that I could bring you back, I wish that I could turn back time, cause I can't let go. I just can't find my way. Without you I just can't fine my way.'

- 'Perfect World' by Simple Plan

XXXXXX

"I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

Severus' head snapped up and he shot a mild glare at Draco. He knew the comment had been directed at Potter but he felt the impact of the words stinging.

Then he saw Theo ducking his head and slowing his chopping, and he knew he hadn't been the only target unintentionally hit.

Right after class, he called Draco to the front to help him close up some boxes of caterpillars and slugs. Keeping an eye on the classroom, he waited until everybody was more or less out the door and then leaned towards Draco.

"I will thank you Mr. Malfoy to think before you speak next time."

Draco frowned at him while he pushed down hard on a lid. "What did I say?"

"Oh, just something about you feeling sorry for people who spend their Christmas here at school because they're not wanted at home."

Draco let go of the box. "I only meant it to apply to Potter."

"I know that. But unfortunately, your little comment also applied to Mr. Nott, Ms. Bellamy, Mr. and Ms. Dayton and many, many others, including yourself who have spent Christmas here."

"Theo doesn't want and Ravenia didn't want to go home and I didn't want to stay at boring dinner parties with stuffy guests. That's different."

"Be that as it may, your comment hurt Mr. Nott. I know you're upset about losing the game, but I want you to be more careful with what you say and to whom. I will not stand for you to hurt other Slytherins, Mr. Malfoy, even if done unintentionally."

Draco looked guilty, probably really not having considered the effect of his words on the rest of the class.

"I'll apologize to Theo after dinner."

"You do that. And from now on, watch what comes out of your mouth."

"Yes, sir."

Three minutes later, Severus was coming up the stairs just in time to hear Draco making fun of Weasley's family and seeing Weasley diving at him.

Interrupting the fight before Draco had a chance to pull out a wand and damage the Christmas tree Hagrid was dragging down the corridor, Severus took five points from Gryffindor, ignoring Hagrid's remarks that Weasley had been provoked. Even if he had been, only stupid brutish Gryffs responded with their fists instead of their brains.

But that hadn't been the only reason Severus had taken the five points.

He had noticed that only Greg and Vincent were with Draco when he'd insulted Weasley's financial situation, and neither of them came from the backgrounds to be insulted by the comment.

Draco had already processed and adapted to what Severus had told him only moments ago, and quick thinking and attitude adjustment like that deserved to be rewarded.

XXXXXX

"I mean, what kind of a moron can't slice caterpillars correctly? They're not slippery, they're not that small and really, it's not that difficult."

She laughed. Be a bit more patient with him. You know I couldn't even hold my knife properly until third year.

"You did it properly after I showed you, and I showed him twice already."

Maybe his talents lie elsewhere.

"Yeah. In Quidditch. Like father, like son. The damn sport is taking up too much of his time. He'd know how to chop properly and he'd have done better on his charms quiz if he didn't have to go to practice."

He was sitting on the floor infront of the mirror, Evans sitting cross-legged before him, leaning back on her hands and raising her eyebrows at him.

How the hell do you know what he got on his charms quiz?

"It's not my fault Flitwick leaves his things lying everywhere in the staffroom. My eyes just happened to wander."

She laughed again. And it just so happened that your eyes wandered through the pile until you reached the one that said Harry Potter?

"It was at the top of the pile."

Yeah, right.

"Well, it was close enough."

She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and then leaned her elbows on her knees.

How are things in the dungeons?

"They're going. Draco's still jealous that your brat gets to play, but he's perked up considerably once he realized that he's better in class than him."

That Hermione Granger's still pretty good, though.

"Yeah. But she's abnormally intelligent. She's one of those crazy smart ones."

Hey, I knew somebody like that too. Only he was a Slytherin. And more crazy than smart.

"You wouldn't know smart if it kicked you in the rear."

She sat up, a hand going to her heart and a mock grimace on her face. That one hurt, Sev. Really. A Gryff's feelings are easily wounded.

"Remind me why I care?"

She half opened her mouth and then shut it again, frowning and then laughed. Damn, I had a good retort for that and now it's gone.

"Fleeting moments of intelligence are all one can expect from Gryffs, Evans. Don't be too hard on yourself."

Hey, you're looking at prime Auror material here.

"And that didn't prove my point how, exactly?"

Stupid, slimy Slytherin.

"Oh, so we're at the name calling now, huh?"

She laughed and leaned back on her elbows. Quit it with the snarkiness and tell me what Carling and Leland wrote in their last letters.

XXXXXX

Ruddy exchanged a worried look with Gabby as they peeked in through the open doorway.

"This isn't good," he muttered to her in Elfish.

She sighed. "Master Severus has been so happy since he found the mirror."

"It not mean it's healthy. Look at him! Spends hours every night sitting there, speaking to somebody who is just image in a mirror. Ruddy thinks Master Severus forgetting that he not really speaking to her but just to delusion in his mind."

Gabby frowned as she listened to Severus chuckling. "Why Master Severus thinking she talking to him? Mirror not speak."

"Mirror shows Master Severus what he most wants, and he most wants to speak with Miss Lily and have normal conversation, so image in mirror pretends to be having conversation."

They both quietly studied their friend sitting on the floor, talking about Carling's last game and how she'd gotten five penalties for the other team by roughhousing, but ultimately left the other team members scared enough to get distracted and allowed their own Seeker to snatch the Snitch.

"This not going to end happily."

"We should be telling Headmaster. He should be moving mirror sooner."

Gabby sighed heavily. "Oh, Master Severus not going to be happy when that happening."

"That better than this. Anything better than this."

XXXXXX

Severus scowled at Dumbledore, who was smiling like he had just had the greatest idea in the world.

"Why would you even consider giving a troublemaking, irresponsible first year an invisibility cloak?"

"It's rightfully his, Severus."

"So is all the money in his vault, but he can't just go and take it all out in one go. He has restrictions on the vault, and for a damn good reason. He isn't being allowed to spend his money recklessly until he's seventeen, and he shouldn't be allowed to have a cloak like that until then either."

Shooting the headmaster another glare, Severus let his head fall into his hands and rubbed his temples. Damn, he had a headache today. He'd woken up feeling slightly nauseous with a slight twinge of a headache. Thankfully it was Saturday and he could concentrate on mentally swearing at the Banshees in his head instead of keeping himself from snapping at his Slytherins.

He'd turned off the radio connection in his office and his quarters and stayed out of the common room from where the music pounded from morning until night on Saturdays. All he'd wanted to do was lie in bed with the lights dim and sleep through the craving that gnawed at him, but endless requests from various dunderheads had prevented that.

His Slytherins knew to leave him alone and to speak quietly and not to be irritating when he got his headaches, but the rest of the school didn't seem to have that respect.

Hagrid wanted help putting up the Christmas decorations outside, Myrtle wanted a final opinion on the lavender scented toilet bowl cleaner, Fawkes had just been reborn and was demanding to be played with like he always did at that age, Bella was slamming against his mental block wanting to speak to him, and now the headmaster had called him up to tell him what a brilliant idea he had had in regards to Potter's gift.

He was jarred out of his thoughts when he felt cool fingertips against his temples and felt a gentle stream of healing magic pouring into him.

The magic dulled the thudding pain in his head, loosened the tightness in his jaw and throat and eased the slight tremors in his hands as they itched for something he refused to let them touch.

"It's bad today, isn't it?"

Severus grunted in response. "I've had worse but usually I can just curl up in bed and sleep through it."

"You should just tell people that you're unavailable."

"And let the Banshees win? I don't think so."

It wasn't only the constant running around that had aggravated his cravings and aches. He'd run into Potter no less than six times that day, and seeing those bright green eyes on days like today was always enough to kick the hunger gnawing at him up a notch. He'd always turned around and hurried the other way, not wanting to be caught staring at inappropriately at the boy, or worse, momentarily lose control and hurt him.

He groaned softly as more magic streamed into his head and the fingertips left him. He felt a kiss on his forehead and then felt his hands being pulled from his face.

"Why don't you go have a nap, my boy? I'll wake you if something urgent comes up."

"But if my Slytherins—"

"Gorgon is down in the dungeons and he can handle nearly every type of emergency situation that should arise. And if it isn't an emergency or a small request, it can wait for a few hours."

Nodding, Severus allowed himself to be lead into the bedroom where he'd spend so many months sleeping and recovering and allowed the old man to change his robes into a temporary nightgown with a flick of his hand and let him tuck him into bed.

He let himself sink into the soft pillows and blankets, closing his eyes and already half asleep.

He heard the headmaster softly closing the door and going back to his desk, and he made a mental note to argue some more about the boy being given that damn cloak. A part of him considered that the headmaster had just put him to bed to discontinue their argument. He paused to smile sleepily and give the headmaster a mental congratulations before he drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXX

Severus stuck his head into the common room and spied Theodore sitting on one of the couches reading the book on jinxes he'd gotten from Severus just that morning.

Tracey Davies, a Slytherin who usually lived in muggle foster care and was also living at the school full time, was sitting on one of the other couches, trying out the decorative hair pins that Severus had bought her and that changed color when she tapped them with her wand.

"Are we going up to dinner or are you two going to eat books and hair pins?"

Theodore made a face and Tracey sighed softly as they got up and started shuffling towards the door.

Severus frowned and stopped them both at the door. "What's wrong?"

Theo was about to shrug but caught his mild glare and put his chin up. "We'd be the only Slytherins up there, sir."

"There are three of us, Mr. Nott."

Tracey scowled. "Yes, but there are about a dozen Gryffs. All the Weasleys and Potter and some others, and it would be so strange sitting at the Slytherin table by ourselves."

Severus frowned, thinking it over. He himself would be sitting at the head table with the staff, but he knew what it would feel like to sit at that enormous table by themselves, watching the Gryff table full of people.

"Alright. We'll eat dinner down here. No Gryffs and no Puffs."

Both of their faces lit up and they eagerly watched as Severus transfigured one of the couches into a table and summoned chairs from the classroom.

Then he called up Mixie and asked her to please bring them their food down here, which she eagerly set off to do.

They had just sat down to start dinner when there was loud knocking on the common room door. Severus cautiously opened it, wand always ready and was nearly bowled over by Carling and Leland stepping inside.

"Merry Christmas, sir!" Carling yelled, jumping on him and squeezing him around the neck before going over to Theo to thump him on the back and grill Tracey about her presents.

Leland was smiling too as he shook Severus' hand and greeted his former head of house. He followed Severus back to the table where Severus had summoned two more chairs and asked Mixie for more plates and utensils.

They were interrupted one more time by the common room door being opened and a grinning, snow covered Tonks and Cameron came in.

"Merry Christmas everybody! Trace, are those hair pins new? I've seen them in all the stores, they're awesome! Anyway, sir, you are coming over tomorrow, right? Mum's been cooking up a storm and she's making way too much food for everybody. What? Of course Theo and Trace can come! We wouldn't expect them not to! Carling! Get over here and tell me how life's been going! I haven't seen you two for months!"

After loud greetings, hugs and squeals of delight, more chairs and plates were summoned and everybody sat down to try to start dinner again.

Dinner was a marvellous affair. Their Christmas tree sat in the corner, blazing with silver and green decorations and twinkling lights, all personally made—and pilfered by the Slytherins—and the radio was playing Christmas music, alternating between loud, cheerful rock songs that Tonks and Carling drummed along to with their utensils, and quieter songs that Cameron pretended not to know every word of.

Lots of food was eaten, presents were asked about, gloated and awed over, Severus was forced by a chorus of loud pleas to get up and bring them the gift his current Slytherins had gotten him that year—a brand new, sterling silver cauldron to replace the aging one that was already yielding contaminated potions— Carling launched into complaints about other Quidditch teams she'd recently played, Tonks recounted funny and boring things that happened during training, Cameron told them about a practical joke he'd played on Dr. Eddington a few days ago, and Tracey and Theo were allowed to complain about their classes, Gryffs and tutorial, which the older Slytherins sighed sympathetically at.

None of them even thought about what was going on upstairs.

XXXXXX

_"Two?"_

_"Nope."_

_"Five?"_

A giggle. _"No, Sevvie."_

_"Are you sure you're only using fingers? We've been over this a hundred times. Using toes is cheating and you can't use the rats fingers either."_

_"I'm not, Sevvie! Keep guessing."_

_"Three."_

_"Nope."_

_"Eight?"_

_"Nope, nope."_

_"Six?"_

_"Nope."_

Severus stopped on his way up to the Gryff towers to do a bed check and frowned. _"Bella, are you changing the number while I guess?"_

A long pause. Then: _"Maybe a little."_

_"What the hell does that mean? You either change it or you don't. You can't change it a little!"_

_"But it's boring if I don't change it because you guess it too fast. If I change it, you have to guess a lot of times, and if I don't then you can guess like twenty times."_

He was about to point out that if she just had a choice of ten numbers, he wouldn't need more than nine guesses to get it, but he was interrupted by the thudding of feet running down the corridor.

Getting his wand out and moving to the side of the corridor, he waited to see who it was. Seeing Mr. Filch gasping and shuffling down the corridor, he relaxed.

"What's going on, Mr. Filch?"

The old man looked ready to keel over from exertion.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library—Restricted Section."

Severus clenched his jaw. It had to be a student. No professor would need to go to the library in the dead of the night, and Quirrel—or rather, the Dark Lord—didn't need to look anything up.

"The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

He hurried off towards the library with Filch at his heels.

_"Fawkes?"_

_"Oh, not again.__ Can you not tell time anymore? What is it?"_

_"Somebody's out of bed. I need you to find whoever it is immediately."_

_"I'm on it."_

Then he called up Myrtle and asked her to quickly swoop through the common rooms and poke her head into each room and see who was missing.

"I don't know each one of the idiots by name, Severus!"

"You know which year sleeps in which room. All I need is a general idea of how many are missing and what year they are."

Nodding, she disappeared.

Then he called up Gabby and Ruddy, who blinked sleepily but looked as alert as they could. "Yes, Master Severus?"

"Lock the front doors and tell Hagrid to start searching the grounds for any wandering students."

Nodding firmly, they disapparated. Filch was still gasping behind him and saying how he had heard one of the books screaming from the Restricted Section while on his rounds.

Having reached the library, Severus took a careful peek inside and cast a quick spell that would tell him how many lifesigns were in the room. Not surprisingly, there weren't any. Whoever they were, they weren't stupid enough to stay around after having made their presence known in such an idiotic way.

They left the library and continued down the corridor. Severus knew that it was useless to start running around aimlessly. Until Myrtle told him who was missing, he had no idea where to even start looking, and Fawkes was much faster at covering the inside of the castle than he was.

Moments later, Myrtle came zooming up to him. "It's the Potter boy, Severus."

Severus clenched his jaw. Of course it was. "Only Potter?"

"Yes. I knew it was his bed because his Quidditch robes were lying half in his suitcase beside the bed."

"Damn that idiotic boy." The moron didn't know enough magic and didn't know the castle well enough to be able to defend himself against the many dangers that lurked within it. He could break his leg falling through a trick stair, he could get lost and wander into rooms that had probably been inhabited by giant insects and rodents for the past fifty years, and much worse, he could stumble across Fluffy, who would happily tear the boy limb from limb in moments.

Panicking, he called his elf, who appeared looking even more sleepy than Gabby and Ruddy had. "Elf, get to the third floor corridor and guard that door leading to Fluffy! If Potter comes close to you, stun him and bind him if need be, but don't let him into that room! That monster will kill him."

"Yes, young master." With a pop, his elf disappeared and Severus' anxiety just increased. Damn that idiotic boy! He was probably wearing that stupid cloak of his, which was how he had escaped Filch's notice or the Fat Lady's—although he knew from personal experience that it wasn't exactly difficult to sneak past her.

_"Bird have you found him yet?"_

_"Why do you always ask me that? Do you think I look for a minute and then pause to admire the view for two minutes and then continue?"_

_"He's probably wearing his damn cloak."_

_"That doesn't matter. I can see through it perfectly. I just passed Ruddy and Gabby. They say Hagrid hasn't seen anybody outside and they've sealed the doors. And I just saw Gorgon. He's standing guard by Fluffy's door."_

_"Just hurry up!"_

He was having nightmarish visions of the boy lying broken, hurt or possibly dead somewhere in the bowels of the castle. It could take Fawkes hours to search everywhere, even flying and apparating at top speed like he was doing.

I'm doing my best, Evans, I swear to you.

He knew it was a bit hypocritical of him to be berating the boy for doing something he and his mother had done hundreds of times. But they had always gone together, they had mostly taken Fawkes along for protection and they had used their heads and known enough magic to handle most of the dangers of the school and the forest. The boy had none of these things.

He was still wandering around aimlessly ten minutes later with Filch still gasping behind him. The old caretaker was very accustomed to Severus having half of his conversations out loud and sometimes in a language he couldn't understand and the other half in his head, so he didn't waste time asking questions, knowing Severus had the situation under control and would let him know if he was needed. It was times like these that Severus really found himself appreciating the old man.

A few minutes later, Fawkes suddenly announced that he'd found him.

_"Is he alright?"_

_"He's perfectly fine. More than fine by the look of him, actually."_

Severus stopped and Filch nearly ran into him. If the boy had stumbled across one of Gabby's hidden stashes of candy, he would strangle the boy.

With sugar quill wrappings.

_"Where the hell is he?"_

_"He's found the mirror."_

For a moment, Severus was confused. Had the boy stumbled into the prefects bathroom? But he couldn't have—he didn't know the password.

_"What mirror?"_

_"The mirror of Erised, Severus."_

Severus froze. His instinctual response was to get to the classroom, order the boy back to bed and taken enough points from him to get the Gryffs into the negatives.

_"Leave him be this once."_

_"Bird, he's out of bed and wandering around in the middle of the night."_

_"I know that, and ordinarily, I'd be the first one to say that he should be back in bed and not breaking school rules, but it would be cruel to pull him away from it so soon."_

Severus rolled his eyes. _"Why? What's he seeing? Him holding the House and Quidditch Cups and the rest of the school bowing before him?"_

_"He's seeing his parents."_

For a brief second, Severus felt angry. The boy was staring at Lily Evans and he had never even known her.

_"But isn't that enough reason to let him see her?__ He knows nothing about his family, Severus. At least you knew her. I know you're angry and possibly jealous, but you've got to force yourself to remember that he's her son. He's Lily's son. And at least you got to spend a few years with her, but he's never even seen her before."_

Severus sighed, hating it but knowing it was true. If it was just Potter senior that the brat was seeing, Severus would make him go to bed. Not having known Potter senior would probably end up being one of the better things to have happened to the boy. But not knowing Evans, that was something that would prove detrimental to the boy, he was sure of it.

And it would be too damn hypocritical for him to forbid the boy to see the woman who he himself went to see nearly every night.

Whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to start accepting the fact that he would be forced to share Evans with this Potter, just like he had been forced to share her with the former Potter.

_"Let him look and then make some noise or something and make him get back to bed. Stay with him until he's safely in bed."_

_"Of course."_

_"And tell the headmaster that the boy will probably be back to look at the mirror."_

And once again, the time he spent with Evans would be cut shorter and portions given to Potter.

Feeling bitter and a bit irritated that he himself couldn't see her tonight, he went off to continue his bed checks, Filch slinking off to continue his rounds elsewhere.


	36. Chapter 36

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 36

Author's Note: Just one chapter again this week, folks. I think this will remain the pattern until winter break. In other news, oh, gosh, my attempts at answering Lettuce's question were very poor! I was typing too quickly and didn't realize that the words on the page didn't adequately reflect the thoughts in my head. While writing out a more coherent answer to some people, I realized that putting the answer here would take up about a page and a half of space. In fact, answering Lettuce's other question regarding my thoughts on DH would also take up tremendous space. So, because I really do want to adequately explain myself and give all of you (especially Lettuce who I can't email directly) the clear and complete answers you all deserve, I wrote up my answers and put them up on my site in the form of two essays. If anybody is interested to hear a clearer reasoning behind why Severus dislikes Harry so strongly, and to those folks curious to read what I thought about DH, take a look-see on my profile page and click on my site. If you scroll down past the Stargate Atlantis stuff, you'll find the two essay links.

Lettuce – although the above two mini essays answer most of your questions, you did ask specifically about the Severus-Lily romance that we saw in DH, and I absolutely agree with you that a platonic relationship makes more sense and gives the two characters more depth. I have never even thought about putting these two in a romantic relationship and have never seen them as working out well that way, which is the reason their relationship is simply one of deep friendship in my story. And also, I will never, ever get tired of answering your questions! Knowing you care enough about my story and think about it in a manner that generates questions is wonderful to know! If you did have an email addy, I would be able to answer you faster and you wouldn't have to wait all week to get a response, but from where I'm standing, answering you questions like this isn't an annoyance at all. Please continue sending any thoughts you have my way.

'And as you believe, so shall you do.'

- _Star Trek: The Original Series_, 'And the Children Shall Lead'

XXXXXX

"_You're going to have to move it soon, Albus. It's caused enough problems already. Never mind now that Ronald has been to see it too."_

"_Mr. Weasley's seen it?"_

"_Harry took him with him. They used that cloak of his—which is a subject that Severus and I still wish to continue arguing about with you—anyway, Mrs. Norris caught them arguing over whose turn it was to look into the mirror last night."_

"_I know, old friend. I should have moved it weeks ago but I let Severus' happiness overrule my common sense."_

"_He speaks to her as if she's really there, Albus. I think he stopped realizing it's a reflection in a mirror weeks ago. Harry's just seeing the equivalent of a life-size photograph and isn't in any real danger, and Ronald deserves to see his fantasies play out before his eyes for once, but the damage the mirror has done to Severus is already too high."_

"_I know. Tomorrow I'll tell him I'm moving it."_

"_Will you tell Harry as well?"_

"_Yes. I'll let the boy visit it tonight and I'll tell him I'm moving it tomorrow. That'll give Severus a chance to say good bye."_

"_That will be a scene I'll be staying away from."_

XXXXXX

"No!" Severus grit out.

"Severus, please. I told you yesterday that I'd be moving it and the longer I delay, the longer the stone remains vulnerable."

"I don't care. Think of something else to protect it with."

Albus sighed. He knew Severus wasn't thinking straight at the moment. He wasn't thinking about protecting the stone, he wasn't thinking about keeping immortality out of Tom Riddle's grasp and he certainly wasn't thinking about the well being of the children in the school.

He didn't want to lose what he'd come to think of his best friend a second time.

"I will move that mirror one way or another, my boy. You can use the chance to say good-bye or not."

Severus stared at him for a long moment, his face losing that hint of stubbornness and instead, looked anguished.

He spun around and stared at the mirror, in which Evans stood, leaning against the frame and looking at him sadly.

They stared at each other, the same way they had more than ten years ago when they had last seen each other.

"I won't ever see her again, headmaster."

"This isn't really her, Severus. You have to accept that."

He spun and glared angrily at the old man. "I've been talking to her, headmaster!"

"You haven't been talking to _her_, you've been talking to an image generated by your own mind, Severus!"

Severus turned back to Evans. She wiggled her eyebrows at him and grinned.

"I won't have anything left of her. I'll never see her again." He took a deep breath, feeling his throat tightening. "I don't even have any pictures of her." He turned and stared at the headmaster, his eyes anguished. "I'll forget what she looks like. I'll forget what she sounds like. I'll forget what her laugh sounds like and eventually, I'll forget her entirely."

Dumbledore came forward and squeezed his shoulders reassuringly. "No, you won't! She lives in your memories, Severus, and you can look at those whenever you want. The memories might fade into the back of your mind, but all you have to do is fish them out and put them in a pensieve and you can go see her. You can hear her laugh, hear her talking, see her. Everything."

"She won't be talking to me though. Not like she is in the mirror"

Dumbledore sighed sadly. "My dear boy, Lily Evans hasn't spoken to you for over ten years."

Severus froze, staring at the image in the mirror, letting the meaning of those words sink in.

It was true.

He had been speaking to a mirror for months, not his best friend.

The Lily in the mirror gave him a wink and crossed her arms, staring at him with that sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

Even though he realized now that it wasn't really her, his mind had a hard time remembering that. He hadn't seen her in so long, spoken to her in so long – that the thought of not being able to do so ever again hurt.

He would be left alone again in a world filled with her stupid Gryff brat, moronic Puffs who couldn't stir properly and Thestrals he couldn't stand seeing.

A world with a kitchen that always felt empty.

A world with an old room he hadn't stepped foot into since before he'd gone to Azkaban and probably wouldn't ever be able to.

A world with a portrait covering a common room he couldn't stand seeing.

A world with a high shelf in the library that had collected dust for over a decade and hadn't had anybody sitting on it, their legs swinging, flinging wads of parchment at unsuspecting Claws studying far below for many, long years.

A world with a cold grave in a quiet cemetery that was too silent.

He felt tears on his cheeks and took a stumbling step towards the mirror. Evans dropped her own arms and stepped towards him, her eyes worried as she looked at the sadness on his face.

It might not have been real, but it was better than knowing she was only slumbering in the cold ground and would never laugh or talk again.

He felt the headmaster put his hands on his shoulders. "It's time to go, Severus. It's not really her, you know that. You _know_ that."

"I could pretend," he whispered, his voice broken. "For the first time in ten years, I could pretend."

"And it hurts more now than before, doesn't it?"

He nodded.

"It's not worth it in the long run. You'll lose your grip on reality, or you'll make yourself hurt more than necessary. She's gone, Severus. You've started accepting that and now, you've allowed yourself to push that aside and unravel all the work you've done to move on. This mirror isn't good for you. You know that."

Severus nodded, staring at Evans. He knew he would gladly spend the rest of his life sitting before this mirror, neglecting the school, his Slytherins and his obligations.

And that scared him.

He reached out a shaking hand and gently placed it on the cool surface of the mirror. Evans copied him and put her hand up to his, but Severus only felt the cool smooth surface of the mirror.

He tried to pretend he could feel the warmth of her hand, the slight curl of her fingers as she squeezed his, but he couldn't.

This wasn't really Evans. This was a figment of his imagination, doing what he wanted it to do. Showing him what he wanted to see.

Slowly, he dropped his hand and turned away from the mirror.

The headmaster was looking at him with great concern on his face.

Severus tried to give him a reassuring smile. "It's alright, headmaster. You're right. This mirror isn't what my life is. My life is one where she isn't here any longer. I might hate it, and I might hate her sometimes for it, but it's the way things are."

"Know you are always free to use my pensieve. Whenever you wish, just take it."

Severus slowly shook his head. "Thank you, but for now, I can see her clearly enough in my mind. And if I really want to see her, I can go to Godric's Hollow."

Taking a deep breath, he walked out of the room, not giving the mirror another glance. He knew where Lily Evans was, and it wasn't in that mirror.

XXXXXX

Cursing softly under his breath, Severus stormed out of the castle towards the forest. What a damn long day it had already been!

Earlier that morning, Ruddy had apparated into his room to inform him that Quirrel had been sneaking around the third floor corridor a bit more than usual. He'd approached the closed door a few times, but after hearing Fluffy growling from within, he'd whimpered and drawn back. Right after, he would clutch his head as if in pain and mutter 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry' over and over again.

Then he would crawl back down the corridor and disappear, only to return a few hours later to repeat the scene.

He hadn't yet actually entered the room, but Severus was sure that the Dark Lord's patience would soon run out and he would start using more persuasive methods than threats and demands to get Quirrel to go into that room.

Whether Quirrel was refusing because he was trying to defy his new master or because he was scared of Fluffy was irrelevant to Severus.

Quirrel would soon be forced to try to get to the stone, and Severus would prefer to know about that attempt before it happened, rather than during or after. So he had arranged to meet Quirrel later this evening after today's Quidditch match. He needed to know how far Quirrel had come with getting to the stone and whether it was his own nerves, defiance or lack of knowledge keeping him from it.

But before that, he had had the pleasure of refereeing the Gryff-Puff match, and had not only watched Potter win the Gryffs their second game of the season, but he had nearly been flown over by the first year Seeker. To make matters worse, after he had landed, already angry and irritated, he had been informed by Minerva that three of his Slytherins had spent most of the match arguing and eventually brawling with that moron Weasley and Longbottom.

He grit his teeth as he hurried across the grounds and into the forest. He was not only going to miss dinner because of this little conversation, but he would also have to punish Draco, Greg and Vincent when he was finished.

He reached the clearing they had agreed on and waited impatiently for Quirrel.

Finally, he heard the cracking of twigs and Quirrel came into view, his hood pulled low over his face as he walked hunched over and quaking. Severus rolled his eyes.

"You couldn't at least try to be a bit more inconspicuous, Quirrel, could you? Anybody looking at you would know you were up to something."

"I-I d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus."

The moron. Of course they should have discussed the matter in the Great Hall, making sure to call for silence beforehand and speaking loudly to make sure even the dumbest first year would keep up. "Oh, I thought we'd keep this private. Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone after all."

"I-I don't understand w-why you want to speak a-a-about it at all with m-m-me, Severus. I know n-n-nothing about it."

Well, apparently, Quirrel could lie remarkably well…and was a bit of an accomplished actor….

…and was stupid. He had to know that Severus knew he knew plenty about the defences surrounding the stone, the man having been part of making them in the first place. Severus briefly wondered if the Dark Lord was feeding Quirrel these lines, or if the man was intelligent enough to come up with them on his own.

That thought reminded him that his former master was most likely staring at him now out of Quirrel's eyes.

The thought made him seize up momentarily with terror, but then he regained control of himself. Master wasn't strong enough to take on his own human form, which meant he was probably not as powerful as before. And Severus knew he could handle whatever Quirrel threw his way, even if the power was amplified by the Dark Lord's own. His reflexes were faster than the stuttering idiot's, even if Quirrel's magic would be more powerful than his own.

Deciding that the threat to his own life was minimal at the moment, he cut right to the chase.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Severus, I—"

So the man was still going to play the ignorant fool. Very well. He'd just have to be reminded who he was playing with here. "You don't want me was your enemy, Quirrel," he said, lowering his voice and taking an intimidating step towards the shorter, trembling man.

"I-I don't know what you—"

Time to change tactics slightly. Severus had hoped to keep the conversation as neutral as possible in order to give himself as much playing room as possible. It wouldn't do to openly advertise the fact that he didn't want the Dark Lord getting his hands on the stone. Who knew what the future would bring? Severus was sure that when master returned, Severus would return to him and continue the role he had accepted many years ago.

And master wouldn't forget a betrayal such as this.

So, he decided to abandon neutrality in the hopes of getting some more information out of Quirrel, and being able to lay the foundations for a war that lay looming in the distant future.

"You know perfectly well what I mean. You and I both know who would benefit greatly from that stone, and if he were here, he would be tiring of your little ignorance routine."

Quirrel's eyes widened at the mention of their master and his hands twitched, as if about to go for his wand. Severus nearly laughed, half hoping the fool would pull a wand on him.

"And I wouldn't try anything you'll regret, Quirrel. I can protect myself against your little bit of hocus pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't—"

Severus was careful to keep the irritation and disappointment off his face. Quirrel was playing a better game than he had thought.

If Quirrel really didn't know anymore than he was saying, the stone was safe for the moment. But if Quirrel was lying and playing games with him, then the Dark Lord either had Quirrel completely under his control, or Quirrel was willingly lying for his new master. Neither scenario was a good one.

He realized that pursuing the matter would be pointless. Quirrel would keep spouting his nonsense, and Severus didn't dare legilimize the man while master was in his head. There was no telling if he would be able to come back out, and if he did, whether he would come back out alone or not.

"Very well. We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

Pulling his hood back over his head, he strode out of the clearing and left Quirrel standing there.

He had some Slytherins to reprimand.

XXXXXX

"But Weasley threw the first punch, sir!"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and pushed down the urge to throttle Draco. First Quirrel's idiocy, now Draco's attitude.

"What part of 'I don't care' was unintelligible to you?"

"But—"

Clenching his jaw, he brought a fist down onto his desk, knocking his inkwell to the ground.

"This isn't a debate, Mr. Malfoy!" he snarled.

Draco, Greg and Vincent had all jumped when he'd hit his desk and straightened up, eyes staring past his left shoulder and carefully keeping their mouths shut.

"It's bad enough that the Gryffs have won their second match of the season, but to know that three of my Slytherins were busy brawling during it is the top! What are you supposed to be doing during matches when we're not playing?" he yelled.

Vincent glanced at Draco and Greg out of the corner of his eyes and then decided to be brave and answer. "S-studying the other teams, sir."

"Don't you dare stutter at me, Mr. Crabbe! Again!"

Vincent straightened up a bit more and cleared his throat before trying again. "Studying the other teams, sir."

"Why?"

"To find weaknesses—"

"And see new strategies and changes in playing techniques," Draco quickly added.

"And to see if somebody got a lot better or worse," Greg put in, also wanting to impress him and make him a bit less angry.

Well, he wasn't about to give them any points for knowing something that had been drilled into their heads over and over again.

"And can you do any of that if you're busily engaged in fisticuffs with some idiotic Gryffs?"

"No, sir." They all chorused.

"Let me be perfectly clear. I don't care who threw the first punch. I don't care if the Gryffs were behaving like the savage brutes that they are. What I do care about is that my Slytherins allowed themselves to be distracted from their duty, easily provoked, made a spectacle out of themselves and embarrassed me and their house. I'm not only going to take thirty points from Slytherin—ten from each of you—but I will be doubling your detention."

All of their eyes widened. It didn't happen often that Severus altered the usual 'one day per year' rule for detentions. In cases where the infraction had been quite minor and the person who had committed it was older than a first year, they would be given the choice to serve the full detention or serve only half of it and help him with menial chores around the dungeons during that detention.

In extreme cases, Severus had been known to double somebody's detention, mostly in cases where they endangered themselves or others, or embarrassed their house or housemates in any way.

"Mr. Malfoy, do you have something to say about that?"

Draco wisely kept staring at the wall. "No, sir. We deserve the doubling."

"You certainly do. Now get out of my office. You will start detention tomorrow night and serve the following day as well."

Without having to be told twice, they all cleared out of his office. They wisely kept their mouths shut while they trailed down the corridor towards their common room. Even when they had settled onto the couches, they didn't dare start complaining.

The other Slytherins were glaring at them for the loss of points—good news travelled fast.

Even Tonks, who was visiting and sitting with some of the older years spared them an unimpressed look.

"Thanks a lot, dearest cousin. Really. You embarrassed the house, you lost us points and you put the professor into a nasty mood. Tutorial's going to be a breeze for you guys."

Terence looked up from where he was leaning against the couch.

"You're not staying?"

Tonks snorted. "When the professor's in a mood like this? Not a chance."

"Great. Thanks, Draco."

Draco glared at them. "I'm sorry, alright? I'll earn the thirty back, you know I will."

"We'll earn back ten a piece, Draco. It's only fair," Greg put in, listlessly picking at a loose thread on his robes.

"No. You didn't pick a fight with Weasley, I did. All you and Vince did was stand up with me. Really you two should have earned points for it, but since the professor hates brawls anyway—"

Vincent shook his head. "We could have dragged you away and ended it without letting loose with our fists. How about Greg and I earn back five each and you earn back twenty?"

"Alright. Deal. Greg?"

"Sounds fair."

They spent a moment shaking on it and then went back to staring sullenly around the common room.

Some of their housemates were still glaring at them, but Terence gave Draco a nod of approval when he caught his eye.

Later, when Terence was walking past Draco on his way to tutorial, he slightly slowed down.

"You've still got a lot to learn, little snake. But at least you're learning," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

Draco gave a slight nod to acknowledge that he had heard and quickened his pace, wanting to get to tutorial and start his homework as soon as possible. He had some points to win back.

XXXXXX

"I can't believe he put me down for revising transfiguration all next week! I'll go mad if I have to see one more diagram of a needle turning into a match, I swear!"

Millicent snorted at Blaise, who was sitting at the table across from her, complaining loudly to Greg.

"We're supposed to be turning a match into a needle, thickhead! No wonder the professor has you down for revising transfiguration for a week!"

Blaise scowled at her while Greg and Draco laughed and Millicent leaned over to swipe a piece of bacon from Blaise's plate while he was busy scowling.

"At least you don't have to do history for the next three days," Tracey muttered, putting more butter on her roll.

All of them grimaced in sympathy and started comparing what torments their head of house had put into their revision schedules. Even though exams were ten weeks away, their house was already in full revision mode.

When they had all listed their own revisions, Draco swallowed his mouthful of porridge and called down to the person sitting at the edge of their table, munching on some toast.

"Hey, Theo! What do you have?"

"History. Same as Tracey."

Tracey perked up. "Hey, we'll sit together, Theo, alright? My notes are rubbish for the most part. I looked at some of them and there's this one spot where I can't tell if I was trying to write 'Gobbledifuncuris' or 'hobble'."

The rest of them burst out laughing while Greg scrunched up his face and demanded to know what the hell 'Gobbledifuncuris' was.

Draco looked up and down the table, trying to see where the nearest pitcher of milk was. Seeing it way down towards the end, he tried hollering down to Marcus who was closest to it, but the Quidditch captain was busy having a heated discussion with Miles and Luther Warrington and didn't hear him.

Grumbling to himself, Draco pushed himself off the bench and headed down to grab the pitcher.

Reaching through Marcus and Julian, he snatched the pitcher up and loudly thanked Marcus for being such a great help. Marcus waved a hand at him, his attention focused on Miles explaining why he didn't have the flexibility or the reflexes to catch the Quaffle in the way Marcus had illustrated on his napkin, using bits of egg and a sausage.

As Draco headed back to his seat, he happened to pass that irritating trio of Gryffs.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"

Draco froze, nearly dropping the pitcher in shock. A dragon hatching? Was the fool serious?!

He waited to hear Granger laugh or Potter to say something that would indicate it was a joke or a euphemism for something else.

Instead, he heard: "We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing—"

"Shut up!" he heard Potter whisper.

Damn, he'd been caught. Well, he had been making it a bit obvious that he was eavesdropping, but it _had_ been a startling conversation!

He hurried to his seat, hoping his head of house hadn't seen his horrific example of casual eavesdropping. He'd be in double detention again quicker than he could blink.

But as he sat down, he poured himself a glass of milk and thought it over.

Obviously, the Gryffs had been talking about an actual dragon. For a moment, he knew he should consider who on earth would be stupid enough to keep a dragon's egg on them in such a populated area, and why anybody would want a dragon…but then he realized that the idea of it was kind of cool.

He personally wouldn't want a dragon as a pet—they were too dangerous, too large and would no doubt destroy the beautiful green bed curtains his mother had ordered for him from France to hang from his bed many years ago.

But he'd never seen a dragon hatching before, and that shouldn't be something that somebody presented with the opportunity should pass up.


	37. Chapter 37

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 37

A/N: Another week gone by and it's time for another update. Thanks for all the great comments concerning my opinion on DH. I'm so glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who thought that book was lacking in every aspect. Enjoy little Norbert!

Lettuce – I completely agree that Umbridge wasn't dealt with appropriately. I think the ending of OOTP was meant to be enough for readers, but all it was good for was a laugh. Then in DH, she's right back at it again. Suffice it to say that I've been thinking of ways to deal with her better in my story, and believe me, she'll be thinking twice about using that blood quill again. As for Lucius, when I mentioned him torturing school children, I was referring to his conduct in the DoM towards Harry and Co when they were after the prophecy. I didn't mean to imply he was doing anything wrong when he was sitting at Hogwarts at the end of DH. Sorry for the confusion.

Tia'RaHu – I laughed loudly enough to wake my entire house when I read your comment about Sev and Bella putting their telepathic bond to 'good use'. I never even considered that!

'Well, of course he's unreasonable; he's a child. And such a child. You know, making little boys reasonable only gives them pimples.'

- Lwaxana to Worf about Alexander, _Star Trek: TNG_ 'Cost of Living'

XXXXXX

He kept a casual eye on the Gryffs all through Herbology that morning. He deliberately dragged Pansy over to a bench near the Gryffs and strained to overhear any discussion on when they would be going to see whoever had the egg.

He was so busy staring at them that he handed Pansy a trowel three times in answer to some questions from her that he didn't bother listening to.

She finally smacked him over the head and snapped that she had asked for some fertilizer the first time, the trowel _without_ the broken handle the second and for him to either help her or take notes the third time.

Draco muttered that he had something he had to take care of, and Pansy raised an eyebrow and waved the trowel threateningly under his nose and told him in a sweet, innocent voice that he would really have something to take care of if he didn't start helping.

Treasuring all of his limbs, Draco focused on the task at hand and started helping her, still keeping half an eye on the Gryffs.

When the end of class came, the Gryffs seemed to have decided something, since they dropped their trowels and tore out of the greenhouse as fast as they could.

Draco nearly tripped over Pansy's book bag as he hurriedly stuffed his own things in his bag and started for the door.

He suddenly found himself flying backwards and landing flat on his back with a thud, an angry Pansy standing above him, one hand on her hips and the other holding her wand on him.

"So first, you hardly help me do the stupid assignment, and now you're going to leave me to clean it all up? I don't think so, Malfoy."

Draco rolled over and carefully got to his feet, keeping his own wand up his sleeve but not taking his eyes off Pansy's. He didn't want to start a duel in the middle of a greenhouse with Sprout only a few feet away, but he wasn't stupid enough not to make an effort in anticipating when he would be hexed again.

"Listen, Pansy, I really, really have to see where the Gryffs went."

"Potter and his lot?"

"Yes."

"They tore out of here pretty quickly, didn't they?" she frowned. "Seeing how we have a break now, they really didn't have to rush…unless they were up to something." Then she grinned. "Of course they were up to something! You knew that and you want to follow and see if you can get them in trouble for it!"

Draco nodded, relieved that she understood. "Yeah. But they've already had a head start on me, Pansy, so I really have to—"

He turned towards the door when Pansy lifted an eyebrow and tightened her grip on her wand. "Not so fast, Draco! While I'm all for getting Gryffs into trouble, I don't think that having them lose some points will make up for the fact that I basically did all of your work this lesson."

Draco pressed his lips together, wishing she didn't have her wand out already. If she didn't, he might have a chance to hex her and get out of there before she recovered, but like this, she would flatten him before he had even touched his wand.

"Fine. What do you want?"

"Help me with my astronomy revision tonight. And I want your portion of the snacks at tutorial tonight too."

Draco nodded. "Deal."

Smiling sweetly, Pansy lifted her wand tip and grandly gestured for him to leave.

"You might want to hurry. Our deal doesn't hinge on whether you catch them or not, but the professor will be in a much better mood tonight if you do."

Not needing to be told twice, Draco raced out of the greenhouse.

He desperately scanned the grounds, hoping to catch a glimpse of the three Gryffs.

Not seeing anybody except some older Claws and others from his own class, he scowled, thinking he had lost them entirely.

But there was no sense in admitting defeat without having explored all possible avenues for success, he thought to himself. And although this wasn't a duel, he was sure that Professor Snape's words could apply here as well.

Making sure to appear as casual as possible, he scuffed his feet through the grass, hoping anybody looking at him would simply think he was unenthusiastic about getting to his next lesson. He thought about going into the forest, but decided to tackle that last.

He was almost certain they weren't inside the castle. Hiding a dragon inside the castle would be too difficult. Foolhardy too, but Gryffs couldn't be expected to have such common sense.

He could see the lake and the empty dock bobbing in the sparkling blue waters and knew they weren't there.

He sprinted over to the other greenhouses and peered inside each one, but there was nothing in them except buzzing insects, strange looking plants and the usual stench of dragon fertilizer.

That only left Hagrid's hut before he had to tackle the forest.

Hurrying down the steep grounds towards the little hut, he carefully stayed low and out of visual range of the windows.

Once he reached them, he crouched down, leaning against the wall and waiting until he had caught his breath. Then he slowly slid up the wall and turned, peering through the faded curtains into the darkened room.

And there it was!

Standing amid broken egg shells, a tiny black dragon stood on the table, its skin wrinkled and leathery looking. The tiny creature was peering around with eerie orange eyes and sneezed, a couple sparks flying out of its snout.

Draco nearly stopped breathing. The moron had a live dragon in his wooden hut.

Well, that really wasn't his problem, was it? The dragon wasn't anywhere near the dungeons and it was the idiotic man's own fault for not having any common sense.

He tried mulling over what angle he should approach this new development from. Technically, they were all on break right now, so the Gryffs weren't missing class, and technically, it wasn't their dragon.

That thought gave him pause. Nobody knew about the dragon, which also meant that nobody knew that it wasn't the Gryffs dragon.

But as long as the dragon was in Hagrid's possession, he would have no solid evidence that the Gryffs had anything to do with the dragon being here in the first place.

No, he would have to wait until they were alone with the dragon, and then he would make sure an adult caught them red handed with it.

Grinning to himself, he lost himself with happy thoughts of an empty Gryff hour glass and Potter being pulled off the Quidditch team and Granger's library privileges being revoked. Oh, this was going to be fantastic!

He was so busy gloating in his mind that he failed to notice Hagrid staring right back at him until it was way too late.

Damn it! He had completely forgotten he was standing in the window still, and that if he could see them, they could see him.

Turning, he sprinted towards the school. The professor would have his head on a platter if he found out about this! Losing focus and daydreaming while in full exposure during a reconnaissance! Merlin!

Mentally apologizing over and over again to Salazar Slytherin and hoping that the professor wouldn't overhear Potter complaining over this, he pressed a kiss to his fingers and pressed his fingers against the snake emblem on his cloak for luck.

XXXXXX

"Merlin you're slow today, Draco!"

Severus glanced over his shoulder to Millicent, who was putting the finishing touches on her charms paper and was frowning over at Draco's paper, who blinked and stopped staring at the far wall long enough to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Hmm?"

She scowled. "You've barely written a sentence in the past twenty minutes! We promised to revise some defence stuff with Pansy and Greg once we were done! Hurry up!"

He scowled back. "I'm going, I'm going, keep your robe on."

Noticing a faint haze of purple smoke coming from the cauldron beside him, Severus turned his attention back to Julian's latest disaster, but kept an eye on Draco.

As soon as Millicent had returned to her paper, Draco went back to staring at the far wall, a dreamy look on his face.

He'd looked the same way for the past week, and it was driving Severus insane. Exams were starting in a few weeks and Draco wasn't only crawling through his homework but was barely doing any revision.

After Greg stood up and peered over Draco's shoulder and expressed his irritation that he wasn't anywhere near finished yet, Severus decided enough was enough.

"Mr. Malfoy!"

It took Draco a moment to realize he was being called. "Yes, sir?"

"Since you seem to have so much time on your hands, go fetch another bowlful of leech juice for Mr. Derrick."

Draco nodded and slid off his stool and headed into the storage room. Severus stepped up to the next cauldron at the front of the class and frowned into Pansy's concoction.

"Ms. Parkinson, have you been eating the beetles?"

She frowned and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "No, sir."

"Then pray tell why didn't you put enough into your draught?"

She blinked. "I didn't put any, sir….oh." Her confused frown turned into a scowl as she spun around to squint at the scribbled instructions for her draught amid the other potion recipes, transfiguration diagrams and witch-on-the-stake word guessing games on the board.

"Empty and clean your cauldron, Ms. Parkinson. And no, you may not ask the older years to do it for you with magic. Perhaps scrubbing burnt guck out of your cauldron will encourage you to read properly. I will fetch you more beetles. You know where the sink is." Returning her scowl with a smirk, he turned and headed for the storage room.

He entered and half shut the door behind him. Going to the bucket of beetles, he summoned a small beaker to himself and plucked ten beetles out of the bucket. Waving his wand at the inventory list, he made sure the ten beetles were taken off the list.

Holding the beaker, he went over and leaned against the counter where Draco was busy pouring leech juice into a small flask.

"What on earth is the matter with you these days, Draco? Hmm?"

Draco's hand momentarily jerked but he steadied himself and kept his eyes glued on the rising liquid in the flask. "I don't know what you mean, sir."

"Are you quite sure you want to lie to me, Draco?"

That froze Draco's hand entirely and he slowly put the large bottle onto the counter.

"I'm sorry."

"Look at me."

Draco turned and looked up at him. "What could possibly be consuming your mind at this time of year that's more important than exams?"

"Are you asking me what should be or what actually is consuming my mind, sir?"

"Why don't you answer both."

"What should be is nothing."

"Correct. And what actually is?"

Draco pressed his lips together. "I'd really rather not say, sir."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I'd really rather you did."

Draco opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again and shut it again, a frustrated look on his face. "If I tell you, it'll ruin it, sir! I'm so close, I know I am!"

Ahh. That explained it. Draco was scheming to get somebody in trouble, probably a Gryff or a Puff. And from the sounds of it, the first year had put quite a bit of thought into it too, if it was consuming his time like this.

Well, that was fine. Using his head for scheming and getting Gryffs and Puffs in trouble was a good learning experience for all involved parties.

What wasn't fine was the fact that Draco was doing this during exam revision time, and that he was obviously doing it by himself.

"There is a time and place for such things, Mr. Malfoy. A few weeks before finals is not it."

"I know that, sir, but the situation just presented itself! I didn't have a choice!"

"Completely understandable, but I need you to keep your priorities in order. I won't tolerate you mucking up your exams while getting Gryffs and Puffs into trouble."

Draco opened his mouth to no doubt argue, but when Severus raised an eyebrow, Draco snapped his mouth shut again.

"Also, I don't need to remind you how foolish it is to undertake any such adventures unaided, or do I?"

Draco pressed his lips together, his face clearly showing that he had forgotten about this. So the boy wasn't only messing up his exams, making juvenile mistakes while carrying out his plans, but he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he had forgotten that both of these things were bad.

Everything was showing on Draco's face. Absolutely everything. Oh, Salazar would have a stroke if he weren't already long dead.

He knew that ordering Draco to stop his scheming wouldn't help. Draco would stop, but his attention would remain focused on the scheme that had been terminated before completion, and his school work would suffer even more with all the would-haves and could-have-beens that would occupy his mind.

"I will not tolerate this continual slacking, Mr. Malfoy. You will do your homework and your revision properly and promptly, and you will honor the agreements you made with various study groups. If you can't do that during tutorial, I will put you in detention from now until the year finishes. Either way, you will do your work and you will prepare for those exams. Understood?"

Draco swallowed, but nodded firmly. "Yes, sir. I'll get back to working properly. I promise."

"Good. Get your priorities back in order and keep all irrelevant schemes out of your academic life, Draco. Gryffs and Puffs will still be here once exams are finished. Unfortunately."

"Yes, sir."

He was about to let Draco return to tutorial, when he remembered that Draco was doing whatever he was doing by himself.

He wondered if the boy would be foolish enough to attempt something dangerous or overly complicated without the aid of his fellow Slytherins—especially the aid of the older years.

He hoped not. Either way, he decided to check to make sure Draco wasn't in over his head. Mentally sending a 'legilimens' at Draco, he gently probed Draco's thoughts. He knew what he was looking for would be right on the surface so he wouldn't have to dig and risk being felt by Draco.

The first thing he saw was an image of a dragon. Thinking he was seeing a poster or a photograph Draco had been looking at recently, he was about to dismiss it, until he realized he recognized the square scratched table the baby dragon stood on and the surroundings of the room behind it.

That was Hagrid's hut.

What on earth was a baby dragon doing on Hagrid's table? And why was Draco thinking about it?

Deciding that he needed more evidence before he jumped to conclusions that he was sure were outrageous, he skimmed around a bit more.

Within seconds, he realized that his conclusions had unfortunately been correct. Extremely correct.

XXXXXX

Flicking a hand at the hut door, he watched it slam open and ricochet off the wall with a loud bang.

He heard Fang yelp and skitter across the floor and Hagrid leapt off the chair he had been sitting on.

Every last bit of hope that he had been wrong about the whole thing and had just seen one of Draco's dreams disappeared when Severus saw the small dragon curled up in the corner by the fire. It had already grown three times larger than the one he had seen in Draco's memories.

He was about to start yelling but realized it would do no good. Hagrid would never see dangerous creatures for what they really were. Having tamed the violence living beneath his own skin and able to keep a tight control over it allowed Hagrid to believe that all violent creatures yearned for that control and were capable of it. No amount of yelling would make him see that such a belief was nonsense and foolish.

But Severus would be damned before he let the fool endanger the rest of the castle and the children.

"That thing will be gone within two days, Hagrid. It will not be in the forest, it will not be anywhere near the lake or Hogsmeade. It will not be within twenty minutes flying distance of the school. If it's still here in two days, I will come and behead it, skin it and use its parts for potion ingredients. Am I perfectly understood?"

"Y-yes, sir. It's already being taken care of. Some of Charlie Weasley's friends are coming down to pick Norbert up."

Severus debated legilimizing the man to see if he was telling the truth, but decided not to bother. He'd know the answer in two days time and Hagrid knew not to lie to him about such things.

"As soon as it is gone, you will go to the headmaster and tell him about this. Until then, you will not leave it unattended for even a moment. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't really thinking. I've just always wanted a dragon, see, and he's such a lovely little—"

"If you ever bring such a creature onto the school grounds again, Hagrid, I will make sure you are thrown off the grounds. Permanently."

Hagrid's eyes bulged from the threat. "B-but—"

"You and I live here due to the headmaster's kindness and we repay that kindness by being useful and fulfilling tasks he needs us to do. But neither he nor I will tolerate somebody who threatens the welfare of the students. I recall you were expelled for an eerily similar occurrence, Hagrid. I am giving you one final warning. You might be a moronic idealist when it comes to such creatures, but you know what creatures are classified as dangerous. If you bring one more onto the school grounds without having been asked to by the headmaster, I will have you thrown out."

Not waiting for Hagrid to answer, Severus marched back out, slamming the door shut behind him.

He tried to suppress the nightmarish visions he had racing around in his mind about the dragon setting Hagrid's hut on fire, escaping and racing up and down the school corridors, killing, maiming and burning every child in its path.

He shuddered.

Two days. He would have an elf keep an eye on Hagrid's hut and tell him if the half giant left the creature unattended for even a moment or to sound the alarm if it escaped.

He shook his head. He understood why the headmaster allowed Hagrid to remain at the school, and the man did have his uses, but how many chances would the headmaster give Hagrid for committing the same crime over and over?

He considered whether the headmaster would give him another chance if he decided to give the Dark Lord another chance, convince himself that master really did have the best intentions in mind, then change his mind again and come crawling back to the school.

He'd probably….

Severus stopped walking.

But the two things weren't the same. Not the same at all.

Severus might still care deeply about his former master, but he wasn't under any delusions that he would ever see the error of his ways or want to repent. Hagrid was still convinced that he could change those around him who didn't behave the way moral society wanted them to.

Severus knew better than to waste time on such things. And he really hoped that one day Hagrid might begin to see that as well.

XXXXXX

Ignoring the chatter around him, Draco twirled his fork around, staring off into space in bliss.

This Saturday his plan would finally enter into its last stages. The opportunity he had been waiting for was finally at his fingertips.

He'd been discreetly trailing the Gryff trio all week, waiting for an opportunity to catch them alone with the dragon. He hadn't had much luck, until he'd stopped in the infirmary to intimidate Weasley a bit.

After all, getting the trio caught was only a part of his plan. Having them quaking in their shoes with fear about that fact was the other part of the plan.

Even if he hadn't had a fully formed idea for one part of his plan, the other part could be worked on anytime he wanted. He'd had no idea the dragon itself would help with that, but apparently, the dragon disliked Gryffs as much as he did. It served Weasley right for putting his hand anywhere near that dragon.

He'd already been happy about the results when he'd first left the infirmary. Weasley had lied to Pomfrey over what had bit him and Draco had made sure Pomfrey was doubting him. Not only wasn't the nurse that stupid, but Draco's perplexed eyebrow raise, confused frown and innocent sounding remarks had helped tremendously. "Greg's dog has bit him plenty of times and those wounds never looked like this. Weasley must have run into a very large dog. I wonder what size teeth it must have had to cause that kind of a wound. Could a dog even have such large teeth? Oh, what am I thinking? Weasley wouldn't lie, Madame Pomfrey. I'm sure of it. You and I both know Gryffindors are of the honest, upstanding sort."

Upon leaving the infirmary with a spring in his step, he'd been about to toss the book he'd taken from Weasley out of the nearest window, when he happened to spy a piece of parchment stuck between the pages.

Ducking into a nearby bathroom and casually opening the book, he'd skimmed the parchment—and suddenly, the other part of his plan had fallen neatly into his lap.

Taking the letter out of the book, he'd carefully hidden the letter in his trunk as future evidence, and had put the book onto their bookshelves in the potions classroom. The professor would have his head if he caught him throwing a book out and tossing a book out while in the dungeons was too risky. He wasn't about to walk all the way upstairs to toss it out a window. A Gryff's loss was a Slyth's gain.


	38. Chapter 38

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 38

A/N: I apologize about this chapter being delayed by about a week. School is not considerate where writing is concerned. I will continue doing my best to keep the updates weekly, but I might slip a bit behind from time to time.

This chapter is dedicated to my good friend, Sherlockian Slytherin who recently hit a rough patch in life. I might not be able to do much, but I know you enjoy this story, so consider this chapter a gift to you.

'You can handle defeat in two ways. You can lose confidence or you can learn from your mistakes.'

- Troi to Data, _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 'Peak Performance'

XXXXXX

Keeping his wand out, Draco hurried towards the staircase leading up to the tallest tower.

He kept a close eye out for the Gryffs, but given the time, they were probably up there already.

He'd originally wanted to be up in the tower by eleven so he would have plenty of time to find a good viewing point and scope out alternative exit points, but the professor hadn't come to do his first bed check until 11:42.

Draco knew it was idiotic to leave his dorm before the professor had done his first check. But as soon as he was finished checking the dungeons, he would be off to check the other common rooms before returning to his own quarters for some rest.

Even if the second bed check would occur twenty minutes after the first, Draco would have plenty of time to get up to the towers and back before his head of house caught him.

So he'd feigned sleep when he heard his head of house pausing and quietly opening the door a crack. He had been careful to note in which positions he had woken up in for a few days so he could mimic the positions while pretending to sleep.

When the professor closed the door and continued, Draco breathed out a tiny sigh of relief. One obstacle had been taken care of.

He waited until he heard the common room door shutting and then patiently waited five minutes.

Throwing the covers off himself, he pulled his cloak over his nightgown, stuck his feet into his shoes and shoved his wand up his sleeve.

He tip toed out of his room and down the spiral staircase into the dark common room, keeping his wand out and careful not to make any noise.

Once he'd made it out of the common room, he paused, waiting to hear the sounds of his head of house possibly still walking around in the dungeons. Not hearing anything, he quietly made his way to the stairs and hurried up them.

Pausing at the top, he carefully stuck his head around the corner. Not seeing anybody, he turned and hurried down the pathway he had carefully chosen a few days before.

It would take him longer to reach the tower if he went this way, but it would also avoid the other three common rooms. All he had to watch out for were Filch, Mrs. Norris and the ghosts.

Luck was with him that night, and he managed to avoid all the ghosts and caught sight of Filch before he caught sight of him and slipped into a nearby classroom and under the teacher's desk and waited until the caretaker had peeked inside and moved on.

He had made it to the corridor leading to the tower and he hurried towards the stairway, excitement making him less cautious.

He could already picture the empty Gryff hour glass, the congratulatory cheers of his housemates as he brought the possibility of winning both Cups back within their grasp, and his housemaster telling him he'd done a good job and he was proud to have him in his house.

Lost in these happy thoughts, he completely failed to watch his surroundings and walked right into Professor McGonagall.

His heart leapt into his throat and he tried to step back, hoping that she hadn't yet recognized him and he could get away if he ran for it.

Moments after letting out a shocked yelp, Professor McGonagall reached for him and grabbed his ear in a tight grip.

A nearby lamp flared to life and Draco knew he was in trouble. For a moment, an image of an empty Slytherin hour glass flashed before his eyes. He knew his housemates and his head of house would never forgive him.

Not only had his plan failed, but he'd made elementary mistakes, and worst of all, he had been caught by the Gryff head of house. For such an offence, he knew he'd be lucky if he wasn't tossed to the Puffs.

He was so busy imagining the horror that awaited him down in the dungeons that he barely heard the professor yelling that he was getting detention and would lose his house twenty points.

He had half a mind to ask her to avada kedavra him instead since it would be kinder in the long run. Then he suppressed the urge to laugh. Twenty points and detention were nothing compared to what his own head of house would come up with. He wouldn't just get double detention for this one, he was sure.

As she started dragging him down the corridor back the way he had come, Draco suddenly remembered why he had been there in the first place.

Well, if he was going down, he'd try to take the Gryffs down with him. If it worked, it might be enough to win him some leeway where his head of house was concerned.

"You don't understand, Professor, Harry Potter's coming—

He momentarily debated keeping the part about the dragon to himself to use later, but he realized he might as well blurt it all out now. His life as a Slytherin would be over pretty soon anyway, and that was the only life worth bothering with. "He's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on—I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

Knowing it was probably useless but he should keep trying, Draco kept insisting, telling her about the evidence he had in his dorm room and in his own head. Professor McGonagall refused to believe him and summoned one of the elves to tell Professor Snape to meet her in his office in the dungeons.

She dragged him down the stairs, through the dungeons and into his head of house's office, berating him over sneaking out at night, putting himself in danger and lying. He knew she was right about two of those things, so he wisely kept his mouth shut. Being overly rude to the Gryff head of house was something all Slytherins knew their head of house didn't tolerate. Giving her a bit of hard time because she was a Gryff was alright—heck the professor himself did it often enough—but being overly rude to her wasn't tolerated.

Within a few minutes, the professor swept into his office, taking in the scene within a few seconds.

His eyes narrowed dangerously and Draco quickly pressed his lips together and transferred his gaze onto the jars of frogs behind the professor's head.

"Where did you catch him, Minerva?"

"The corridor leading to the astronomy tower."

"He was alone?"

"As far as I could tell. He's cooked up some rubbish story about Harry Potter having a dragon and how he was just there to see if it was true. He insists he was going to come warn us if it was true."

His head of house' face remained blank. "I see. The elves informed me that you have already removed twenty points and given him detention."

"Yes. But that was before he started with his lies. I think we should take twenty more—"

"I will handle this, Minerva."

Professor McGonagall paused for a moment and then gave his housemaster a nod and shot Draco a disapproving glare before leaving the office.

Draco remained standing where he was. The professor stared at Draco for a long moment.

"Alright. First thing's first. You've made a fine mess of things, and believe me, you will be punished accordingly, but there's no reason this entire night should be wasted."

Draco frowned and risked glancing at him, but didn't say a word.

"Are the Gryffs still at the tower?"

"I'm not sure, sir. I didn't see them but Weasley's letter said that his friends would pick up the dragon at midnight."

The professor glanced at the clock on his wall. Ten minutes after midnight. He quickly summoned an elf.

"Gabby, go tell Mr. Filch that he should head to the astronomy towers as quickly as he can. I believe he will catch a few Gryffs doing something they really shouldn't be doing."

The elf smirked and gave a quick nod before disapparating.

Draco shifted on his feet. "The dragon will probably be gone already, sir."

"Obviously. Which means that the Gryffs will not be caught red-handed with a dangerous creature, but will merely be caught wandering around in the middle of the night. In other words, we might be able to salvage this mess you've made, but the majority of it is beyond repair. Well done, Draco."

Draco bit his lip, angry with himself. He waited until he heard his head of house bark the usual demand for Draco to state his mistakes. The answers to that question had been racing through his head ever since he'd bumped into Professor McGonagall so he had no trouble reeling them off.

"I didn't have a full plan, I didn't plan for contingencies such as being caught by someone, I didn't have back-up with me and I got careless and sloppy and wasn't aware of my surroundings."

The professor narrowed his eyes at him. "The only high point in this mess is the fact that you heeded my request concerning your priorities and your school work has risen to its usual standards. If it hadn't, I hope you realize that I would seriously consider throwing you to the Puffs for a few days. I realize you are a first year, Draco, but you have been a member of his house since you were seven years old, which means you have over 4 years of experience living as a Slytherin. I would not tolerate such elementary mistakes and such poor planning and such carelessness from a fourth year, which you in essence are."

"I'm sorry, sir. I really am. I know I embarrassed you and our house and I messed up a perfect opportunity."

His head of house was silent for another moment. "It wasn't as perfect as you had imagined, Draco. Sit down."

Draco hurried to sit on the same chair he had been sitting in for years, happy to hear his head of house's tone softening.

"The dragon belonged to Hagrid. The Gryffs had no part in purchasing it, they didn't try to hide it in the school and they were aiding in getting rid of it. Which all means that if the headmaster would hear about this, he would be much harsher on Hagrid than the Gryffs. I believe then at the end of things, the Gryffs would only be punished for being out of bed, which hopefully they will be caught for anyway. In a way, all realistic objectives can still be met. Your goals were simply unrealistic. Why is that?"

"Because I didn't think things through, sir. I let my emotions control my thinking."

"Correct. Now, we have a tricky situation on our hands. Giving you double detention and taking more points won't do much good, I'm afraid. If you were any other first year, giving you a double would suffice. However, as I already told you, I hold you to higher standards than even the third years, so I don't believe two days of detention would fit the transgression. But on the other hand, I refuse to increase your detention more than a double because that's not the way we do things around here."

"Yes, sir." Draco's stomach was clenched into knots. Anybody not in his house would have been doing cartwheels at hearing that they wouldn't have to serve more than a double. But Draco knew his housemaster was just explaining why the conventional punishment methods didn't really apply in this case.

That wasn't a good sign. Not at all.

"You need to work on controlling your emotions, Draco. There is a time and place for excitement and gleefulness, but the midst of planning or carrying out an operation are not it. I do understand that you are eleven, and these things can only be controlled to a certain extent by someone your age. So, I will give you just the regular one day detention, however, you will serve it in the forest with Hagrid."

Draco froze. "You're serious?"

"I don't tend to be anything else at 12:17 at night, Mr. Malfoy."

"But there are…there are dangerous things in that forest!"

"I'm quite aware of what's in the forest, Mr. Malfoy. However, seeing how you refuse to take the need for back-up seriously, I want to put you in an environment where you start appreciating having somebody there to watch your back and be moral support. Additionally, this will be a good learning opportunity for you. Bumping into Gryffs when your head's in the clouds is one thing, but wandering around daydreaming in the Forbidden Forest is quite another."

Draco opened his mouth, but then snapped it shut. He knew complaining about it wouldn't get him anything but more point losses and possibly more days in the forest.

"If I die, it'll be your fault."

"Actually, Mr. Malfoy, if you die because you were clumsy or not watching your surroundings, it will very much be your fault."

And Draco's night completely went down the drain when he realized that his housemaster was right.

XXXXXX

After he had checked the Gryff common room, Severus had realized Potter, Granger and Longbottom were all missing. As always, terrifying what-ifs had chased their way through his head and he had rallied the usual search teams and sent Fawkes and the elves hunting for them.

Ruddy had spied Draco heading towards the astronomy tower and informed Severus. Moments later, Fawkes appeared and said that Minerva was about to bump into Draco, and that two of the Gryffs were at the top of the tower with a dragon. Gorgon had quickly caught sight of Longbottom aimlessly wandering about and had already discreetly unjammed the boy's leg from a trick stair.

Severus took a moment to thank the foresight that had made him convince Minerva to help him and Filch monitor the slumbering castle while the Dark Lord sat in Quirrel's head.

Knowing that Minerva would catch Draco within moments and would bring him safely back down to the dungeons, he raced towards the tower, more concerned over the Gryffs safety. He was actually surprised to hear that it was Potter and Granger and not Potter and Weasley. Any hope he had for Granger using her brain to overcome her Gryff shortcomings were rapidly disappearing.

Of course Potter would agree to lug a dragon around the school without telling a soul and not even think about the possibility of what might happen if the dragon got loose. But he had expected better from Granger.

As he raced towards the door, he instructed Fawkes to intervene as soon as the dragon became a threat to either Gryff. He didn't care if Potter and Granger would have questions concerning Fawkes' ability, but if that dragon killed or seriously injured either of them, the headmaster—not to mention Evans—would never forgive him.

At least Draco wouldn't have come within reaching distance of that bloody dragon, even if he wasn't using his head the way Severus wanted him to.

This was why he was head of Slytherin house and not Gryffindor. No matter what nightmarish scenario he prepared himself for, Gryffs—especially Potter—would find a new and even worse scenario in which to get themselves killed.

When Gabby appeared and told him that Minerva was bringing Draco down to his office, Severus had a moment of indecision, not knowing whether it would be better to go deal with Draco now or to stay and keep watch over Potter and Granger's well being.

After Fawkes' reassurances that he would handle it, Severus pressed his lips together, cursed the fact that he couldn't be in two places at once and went to deal with Draco.

He was irritated at Draco's behaviour and more than a bit disappointed that he hadn't heeded his advice concerning his plan. While berating the boy and informing him of his punishment, his mood did improve when Fawkes reported that Charlie Weasley's friends had taken the dragon safely off the Gryffs hands, and the fact that Filch had arrived in time to catch the Gryffs.

Then he told Fawkes to ensure Minerva caught Longbottom as well. On his way down, the phoenix pointed out that Potter's cloak was lying on the staircase, and Severus grit his teeth at the further display of Gryff stupidity and lack of thinking. He told the bird to bring the cloak to the headmaster and to fill him in on the wonderful adventures that cloak was making accessible for Potter.

After sending Draco to bed, he hurried up the stairs towards the hourglasses, having one more thing left to attend to before getting some sleep.

He crossed his arms and patiently stared at the ruby filled one, hoping that Minerva would use her common sense for once.

She might not know about the dragon and wouldn't see it from the same perspective as Severus if she did. She would think more about the fact that they were helping protect Hagrid rather than the fact that they had put themselves in danger. So really, not having the dragon as part of the equation wasn't a bad thing.

If she only took ten points off each of her three golden children, Severus would march up there and not leave until she understood her own hypocrisy. After all, she had just taken twenty points from Draco for the same transgression.

Not to mention that he would personally make sure that damn Gryff hourglass would be emptied within a day if she played favourites again.

While he was already coming up with the ways in which he would take those points, he was surprised to see a number of rubies flying back into the top bulb.

More surprising was the fact that the stream of upwards flying rubies didn't stop after just thirty, but continued.

When the flow finally stopped, Severus subtracted the number shimmering above the glass from the points that had been there previously. He was stunned to realize that Minerva had taken a total of 150 points from her own house.

The next day, Severus walked up to her classroom during break and told her that Granger's latest potions paper had been fantastic and that the girl deserved to win a handful of points for that.

It wouldn't do for him to start giving Gryffs points left right and center, but he didn't really want to reward Granger. He was still irritated over the stupidity she had displayed the night before. But he did want Minerva to know that he was impressed with the effort she was slowly putting into treating her Gryffs the way a head of house should.

And from Minerva's pleased smile and offer to help Filch with night checks every night, Severus knew she understood what a big deal this really was.


	39. Chapter 39

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 39

A/N: This chapter is slightly shorter than the normal. My apologies. This is a scene that wasn't actually in the book but was hinted at by Hagrid. That's all the hints I'm giving you. Enjoy!

'How convenient that must be for you. To turn a deaf ear to those who suffer behind a line on a map.'

- Keeve to Picard on Picard's justification of non-interference because Bajor is not a part of the Federation, _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 'Ensign Ro'

XXXXXX

"Master Severus! Master Severus!"

Severus paused on his way up the staircase leading to the Claw tower. Gabby had apparated onto the staircase behind him and nearly fell backwards down the stairs.

"What is it?"

"It Master Rubeus! He needing Master Severus outside in forest right away!"

It always took Severus a moment to remember who Rubeus was, but once he realized that Gabby was talking about Hagrid, he turned and sprinted down the stairwell. If Hagrid needed his help with something in the forest, it had to be something urgent and bad.

He skid around a corner and headed towards one of the hidden side entrances in the castle that would take him closer to the forest. Meanwhile, he yelled over his shoulder for Gabby to check the Claw dorm for him and to help Filch finish his rounds.

Pushing open the door, he stumbled outside and immediately hurried towards the forest. Pulling out his wand, he briefly slowed down to drop blue flames into his eyes and allow himself to see and then hurried on.

Xira was waiting for him on the edge of the forest and she hurried off as soon as she saw him, barely waiting for him to catch up.

He crashed through dark shrubs and ducked under low branches, barely managing to keep up with Xira. He sent curious pixies fleeing and stopped the advance of one of Aragog's many cousins with a glare.

It didn't take him long to find Hagrid.

The half giant was kneeling in a clearing beside a white creature which lay on its side.

As soon as Severus reached them, he recognized the creature. It was Fana, one of the many unicorns living in the forest.

At first he thought Fana was merely ill, but when he saw the streams of silver blood running down her side, he knew this was more serious than he had thought.

"When did you find her?"

"Ten minutes ago. Xira alert'd me."

"She's lost a lot of blood already. We may not have the time we need."

Without wasting another moment, he called for Fawkes.

"_What is it_?"

"_Get_ _out here right now! Fana's dying and we need to close these wounds! And get the headmaster while you're at it._"

Ordering Hagrid to move back, he knelt down by Fana and started moving his wand along one of the numerous cuts on her body, whispering melodic healing charms with all his strength. He repeated it along the same cut a few times, but the wound barely changed.

"It might already be too late, sir. Unicorns don't heal very well, especially if they've been hurt this bad."

Severus ignored him and continued repeating the charm. He only took a break long enough to summon Gorgon and order him to bring some herbs from the potions storage. Within a few minutes, the small clearing in the forest was a hub of activity.

Xira and Tenebrus hurried off to lead the headmaster back to them and Gorgon arrived back with the herbs and summoned up a cauldron and started heating them, sprinkling in other ingredients and muttering the healing charms that had to be infused with the potion.

When Fawkes and the headmaster arrived, they joined Severus in pouring healing energy and applying healing charms to the badly wounded creature. Once Gorgon declared the potion to be ready, he helped Hagrid coax some into Fana's mouth.

She was so weak that she couldn't swallow on her own and Gorgon had to use magic to force her muscles to cooperate.

As time went on, more and more creatures gathered in the clearing, silently watching them trying to save her life.

Gerone stood to the side, watching his long time friend and mate lying on the ground, helpless and moving closer to death despite all of their efforts.

Thestrals, the other unicorns and some of the centaurs had also gathered and a group of pixies and more of Aragog's family and other creatures stayed hidden among the shrubs and trees, silently watching.

More elves appeared and helped bring other ingredients and cauldrons and made more of the healing potion, using Elfish healing charms instead of human now.

Hagrid stayed by Fana's head, only moving out of the way to allow Gorgon to coax some more liquid down her throat, but then returned to murmur reassuring words to the unicorn.

Severus, the headmaster and Fawkes never let up, their hands glowing brightly as healing energy and charms poured into the wounded creature.

Despite all of their efforts, Fana's breathing only got shallower and eventually, her eyes started drooping.

With a soft sigh that spoke more of resignation than pain, she let her eyes drift shut and stopped breathing.

Gorgon gently released her head and lowered the vial he had been using to feed her and the two wizards and the phoenix gradually stopped the flow of magic coming from them and sat back.

Nobody spoke for a long moment. Hagrid gently smoothed Fana's mane and stepped back, allowing Gerone to step closer to her and drop to his knees, laying his head on Fana's, his eyes dull with sadness.

The headmaster sighed softly and squeezed Severus' shoulder. "We did all we could. Let's start cleaning up."

Severus nodded and started helping the elves clean up the cauldrons and extinguish magical fires and pick up bits of herbs and random stirring rods lying all over the forest floor.

Dumbledore went to Gerone and knelt beside him. "I am sorry, dear friend. I know it will be of little comfort, but we will try to find out how this happened."

Getting up, he went to the centaurs and Thestrals and asked them if they had seen anybody or anything attacking Fana.

Bane shrugged and claimed it wasn't his concern but Firenze glared at him and told the headmaster that unfortunately, he hadn't seen anything, but he would keep a close eye on the other creatures of the forest and report anything unusual.

Thanking him, the headmaster went back to where Severus, Gorgon and Fawkes were examining Fana's body.

Gorgon was frowning. "This big problem, headmaster," the old elf said in Elfish to avoid alarming the others around him.

"What is?"

Gorgon exchanged a long look with Severus, who pressed his lips together and looked concerned. "Miss Fana not injured due to other creature attacking her."

"You're certain?"

Gorgon nodded and pointed at one of the cuts on Fana's side. "Headmaster see how cuts end and begin in sharp point and wound edges smooth? These done by knife, not teeth or claws."

Severus leaned over and pointed at some silver smudges of blood on Fana's white coat.

"And these smudges are fingerprints, headmaster," he said, also speaking in Elfish.

Dumbledore leaned over and examined the cuts and the smudges and was forced to come to the same conclusion as they had.

"Somebody with fingers and capable of yielding a knife was responsible for this."

"So it could be human, centaur or elf."

"I don't like what those options imply."

Severus clenched his jaw. "Neither do I, sir. No elf in this castle would attack a unicorn in this way and the centaurs would not keep silent if Fana did something that would justify murdering her."

The headmaster nodded. "And all the students are in bed?"

"Yes."

As the crowds around them started dispersing, Severus stood up and started helping the elves organize getting the equipment back to the castle.

The headmaster spoke with Hagrid and with Gerone and it was agreed that Hagrid would carry Fana's body to his hut to keep her safe and they would bury her wherever Gerone choose tomorrow.

The headmaster once again had a quiet conversation with Firenze and the centaur was adamant that none of the centaurs had had recent difficulties with the unicorns. Severus stepped up to them and waited until the headmaster was satisfied with Firenze's explanation.

Severus turned and addressed Magorian, who as the leader of the herd normally made decisions for the rest of them.

"Magorian, I ask you and the other centaurs to help us keep an eye on the things going on in the forest."

The tall centaur seemed to hesistate for a moment, narrowing his eyes at Severus, but then nodded, not being an idiot. "It would be foolish not to, Professor."

Severus turned and glanced at Ronan and Firenze, who both gave him firm nods. Then they all turned to stare at Bane, who crossed his arms across his chest and jerked his chin into the air.

"Your human problems are none of our concern."

Magorian shot him an exasperated look and before Severus could get in Bane's face and tell him exactly why their 'human' problems would soon be their 'centaur' problems, Firenze stomped his hoof into the dirt and did it for him.

"Do not be a fool, Bane! Whatever did this is a threat to all of us."

"If you were to look at it logically, this threat is more dangerous to us than to the humans, Bane," Ronan put in.

Bane narrowed his eyes at the vocal centaurs and then turned back to the headmaster and Severus.

"We can take care of ourselves."

"I know you can, Bane. That's not the issue. There are other creatures in this forest who cannot defend themselves adequately and who might need your help. Young Thestrals, pixies, unicorns…."

"They are not our responsibility."

"Of course they are, Bane! We are amongst the strongest in this forest and the strong must protect the weak."

Bane clenched his jaw and glared at Magorian, who raised an eyebrow in challenge. Not being stupid enough to openly defy the alpha of his herd, Bane gave a slight nod. "We will keep a look out. If one of the weaker creatures is in trouble and we are in a position to help, we will do so."

Satisfied that his first request had been agreed to, Severus exchanged a look with the headmaster. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him, not knowing what else he wanted.

Severus turned to Magorian and forced himself to sound as respectful as possible.

"There is also a human I would like your people to watch out for."

Bane's glare was swift and predictable. "We do not – "

"Which human are you referring to?" Magorian interrupted Bane, sending a withering glare at the brash centaur.

"Harry Potter."

"Lily Evans' son?"

"Yes. You know why it is essential that he remain alive."

Ronan nodded. "We have heard the rumors, but we have foreseen the events in his mother's life for many years."

"We have always known that she would leave us before her time and that her son would be the one to vanquish the Dark Lord," Firenze said, sadness evident in his voice.

Severus clenched his teeth, wanting to throttle the arrogant arses.

It was a blatant lie that they had known all along that Evans would someday give birth to a little brat whom she would sacrifice herself for to protect and that that sacrifice would end up blowing the Dark Lord to pieces. Even if they had known parts of the prophecy, they wouldn't have known that the Dark Lord would pick Evans and Potter as being the ones to fulfill it.

But that was all beside the point. If he had to smile and pretend that these idiots had been right all along in order to keep Potter save in a time when he wasn't close enough to do it himself, he'd do it.

"If he ever finds himself in the forest alone and in danger, will you agree to protect him?"

Magorian exchanged a long look with Bane and Ronan, but finally turned back to Severus and the headmaster. "We will protect the boy if the heaven's demand it."

Bane smirked at them, satisfied.

That was the most unassuring response he could have possible given him. Severus narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to demand a simple yes or no answer and to give him a strong incentive to say yes.

The headmaster put a restraining hand on his arm and gave him a warning look. Then he gave the centaur leader a wide smile. "Thank you so much, Magorian. Your willingness to aid us will always be remembered. We will try not to trouble you with this in future if it can be helped."

"You do that, Dumbledore."

Glaring at the centaur, Severus took a moment to give Firenze and Ronan nods of farewell and then strode back to where his elf was collecting the last bags of herbs.

Once they were ready to head back to the castle, Severus edged up beside the headmaster, Fawkes on Severus' shoulder.

"There is another suspect we haven't considered, headmaster."

"Who?"

"Look at the evidence. There were fingerprints all over Fana's body. If somebody was merely fighting her, they would get a few fingerprints on her, but not so many. Somebody spent a great deal of time touching her once she was lying on the ground."

"And that not biggest problem," Gorgon added. "There not enough blood."

The headmaster frowned. Now that he thought about it, there really wasn't enough blood covering the ground around Fana. Even if she had stumbled a long way through the forest, she would have collapsed and lost a lot more blood in one spot than she did.

"You think somebody took her blood?"

Severus gave a curt nod, not liking where this was going anymore than the others.

"I shudder at the possibility, but the fact is that there is only one person living in the castle right now who would require copious amounts of unicorn blood to build up his strength."

"Not to mention that Dark Master would be one of few who not think twice about killing unicorn to get own strength back."

"I was afraid you would say that. It does make sense however much we might want it not to. Those fingerprints looked human and there is only one person around here who would have easy access to the forest and would commit such a heinous crime. If all he wanted was her blood, he could have healed her afterwards, but he left her to die. Not out of malice, I'm sure, but because he simply didn't care or consider her well being. And there is only one person around here right now who I know would be so cruel and inconsiderate."

They returned to the castle feeling sad, angry and scared. The fact that Tom Riddle exerted enough power over Quirrel to force him to kill a unicorn and drink from her blood was terrifying enough. In addition to that, who knew how much stronger Tom was now after having drunk so much of Fana's magical blood?

They made arrangements to have the elves and Thestrals patrol the forest with Hagrid at nights and for one of them to have a little conversation with Firenze and ask him to please be an extra pair of vigilant eyes in the forest.

Severus considered cancelling Draco and the Gryffs detention in the forest—Minerva had liked his idea of sending them into the forest as detention and hoped it would cure her Gryffs wanderlust—but then realized that he could accomplish two things at once by keeping their detention the way it was.

Not only would Draco hopefully learn a thing or two, but Severus and Fawkes would tail them and keep an eye on the forest at the same time.


	40. Chapter 40

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 40

Author's Note: You will notice that from now on, updates will hopefully be a lot more coherent and grammatically sound than before. That's all thanks to the amazing Darque Hart, who has agreed to be my beta. Send much love her way everybody, okay? Today's chapter: Fun in the Forest!

'Fear is only in our minds, taking over all the time. Fear is only in our minds, but its taking over all the time.'

- 'Sweet Sacrifice' by Evanescence

XXXXXX

Trailing after Filch with those moronic Gryffs behind him, Draco mentally prepared a list of arguments to still attempt.

He'd tried bringing up the subject with his head of house in the past week but all he'd gotten was eyebrow raises and sarcastic questions about whether Draco would like to be buried next to Aragog's lair or the Whomping Willow. Seeing how his housemaster was dead set on teaching Draco some inane lessons that couldn't be taught in any other setting than a dangerous, dark forest, he gave up on that.

But he could still try and twist Filch's arm. Or Hagrid's.

"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy – it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

There was his perfect opening. Longbottom let out a scared moan and Draco slid to a dramatic stop. He let his eyes widen and hoped his pale complexion added to the effect. There were some benefits to living in dungeons.

"The forest?" he asked, allowing some panic to seep into his voice. He didn't give a damn if the Gryffs would laugh at him behind his back later. This was a matter of survival. "We can't go in there at night – there's all sorts of things in there…"

Quickly. Think of something. Bringing up Aragog wouldn't be dangerous enough. Scary, yes, but not dangerous. Dangerous creatures. Come on, Malfoy! Think! Dange—werewolves! Werewolves! Yes! Perfect!

"…werewolves, I heard!"

His quick thinking and wonderful performance only had the desired effect on Longbottom, who looked ready to faint and clutched Potter's robe while making choking sounds.

The effect on Filch was the exact opposite of what he'd wanted. He only seemed thrilled that Draco had thought up werewolves as the example of dangerous creatures in the forest.

Damn the old man! It seemed that Filch only had his uses when one was on his side, or appearing to be on his side anyway. He had thought that Filch was sympathetic to Slytherins up to now, since his head of house and the caretaker seemed to get along well enough and Filch had eagerly swallowed Draco's bait about the Gryffs sneaking out for that duel earlier that year. Apparently, the caretaker's loyalties only lasted as long as he couldn't get the person he was allied with in trouble as well.

Draco made a mental note of that fact. It would be useful to remember later on in life if he ever made the mistake of looking to the caretaker for support when there weren't any direct benefits in it for the old man. He also made a mental note to tell the rest of his house. Important information like this had to be shared if it would prove helpful for the rest of the house.

Draco forced his attention back onto the current situation he was in. He realized that Hagrid had arrived at some point and that Filch and Hagrid had started arguing about some nonsense.

He mentally kicked himself for not noticing that Hagrid had arrived – daydreaming again! – and that he had lost precious seconds of sympathy-playing time.

As soon as Filch had left, Draco turned to Hagrid, letting some of his very real fear show on his face. Thank Merlin he was still eleven and relatively innocent looking.

"I'm not going into that forest."

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts. Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

That hadn't gone the way Draco had imagined. Not at all. All right, fine. He briefly considered launching into the whole 'this is dangerous and I might die and it'll be your fault' angle, but then remembered that Hagrid didn't consider most of the things living in this ghastly forest dangerous, so that would be a lost cause.

What else could he use? What else – that's it! Not what else, but who else! He was a Malfoy. Malfoy's didn't do such, such things. No, they did not. He wasn't sure if his father had ever run about in dark, dangerous places, but he was quite certain that his mother hadn't. A tiny voice in his head told him that the reasons behind that were probably that his mother scared just as easily as he did, but Hagrid didn't know that.

Desperate, he mentally prepared himself and straightened up, forcing the panic and fear off his face. Haughty. He had to go for haughty. He lifted his chin just a bit – not too much! – and crossed his arms.

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I though we'd be writing lines or something."

Lines! That was good! Oh, good for him! Feeling quite pleased with himself, he decided he might as well throw all of his pawns into the game.

"If my father knew I was doing this, he'd – "

"—tell yer that's how it is done at Hogwarts. Writin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Ye'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"

Damn the stupid oaf! Or not so stupid in this case. Hagrid knew as well as he did that Lucius deferred to Professor Snape's decisions about anything to do with Hogwarts.

Damn!

Well, it looked like he might have to do this stupid detention after all. He knew he still had a few options left – pretend to trip and sprain his ankle, pretend to faint, start getting hysterical – but those would either embarrass him – and by extension the rest of his house – or it would result in Professor Snape simply delaying the detention and making him do it later, or would think of something even worse for him.

He saw Potter smirking at him and quickly straightened up and clenched his jaw. He might be scared and he might not want to do this, but he'd be damned if he acted the coward in front of Gryffs. Slytherins didn't crawl away from danger!

Well, that wasn't really true. Slytherins always tried to avoid danger if they could. They certainly didn't seek it out for no reason other than to play the hero or for the thrill. However, when there was no other way out and when it was something that had to be done, Slytherins were just as brave as Gryffs.

And Draco would do his damned best to show them that.

Barely listening to Hagrid saying something, he started towards the forest, forcing his legs not to shake and his eyes not to widen in panic.

He could do this. He would show these Gryffs.

XXXXXX

Patiently leaning against a tree, Severus yawned and watched Draco making a last ditch attempt to weasel out of his detention. Hagrid responded sharply to whatever Draco had said and Severus saw exactly when his little snake decided he had exhausted all effective and non-humiliating attempts to get out of it and resigned himself to his fate.

"_You're absolutely certain about this_?"

Severus glanced at the black raven sitting on the branch above him. "_We've been over this a hundred times, bird. It'll be a good exercise for them and they won't get seriously hurt_."

"_But why does Hagrid have to tell them about the blood we'd found? The elves and centaurs are already searching the forest and we'll join the search in mere moments. How much help do you really think these first years will be_?"

"_None at all, bird. That's not the point. It's a good exercise for them to learn how to navigate in dark, foreign environments and to learn that unicorn blood isn't just something in textbooks but is something real and something that people and other beings would kill for_."

Seeing Hagrid making his way towards the forest, Severus made sure he was disillusioned properly and cast a neat little rubber charm on the soles of his boots. Whatever he stepped on would momentarily become rubber, thus avoiding the hassle of cracking twigs and crunching dry leaves.

Too bad he'd only recently read about this charm a few weeks ago. It would have come in handy during the war.

He watched Hagrid point out the beginnings of the silvery blood trail and split the group into two. He noticed that Draco immediately picked Fang as a member of his group.

He made a mental note to remind the boy that big teeth didn't necessarily equate to courage and strength, and that Hagrid's apparent dimwittedness didn't necessarily equate with weakness and incompetence.

"_He'll figure that out himself soon enough_," Fawkes sighed in his head.

Severus rolled his eyes. The amount of work he still had to do with Draco was mind-boggling. Especially when considering that he had already been at it for four years.

"_Bird, follow Potter, Granger and Hagrid._ _I'll stay with Draco, Longbottom and that sorry excuse for a canine_."

"_Right._ _Have fun_."

"_Count on it._"

They split up, Severus carefully moving down the path behind Draco's little group and Fawkes flying off after Hagrid's retreating back.

He was pleased to see Draco clutching his wand in his hand and then elbowing Longbottom and hissing something at him, which resulted in the boy fumbling around and finally managing to pull his wand out of his pocket.

They crept down the path, both of them nearly tip toeing and keeping their eyes roaming around everywhere. From time to time they would migrate closer together and would bump shoulders. They would leap apart, Neville's eyes wide and Draco scowling. Draco would hiss something at Neville and the Gryff would take a shaky step away from Draco and they would continue, gradually moving closer together again.

Fang was following along behind them, whimpering and his tail between his legs. Draco would glare at him from time to time, but no amount of hissing made Fang change his demeanour.

As they walked, Severus discreetly stunned anything moving in the undergrowth before the boys got close enough to it. He noted that Draco swung towards any rustling noise, wand pointed straight at the danger, whereas Longbottom jumped a foot into the air and nearly fell over, his wand tip pointing anywhere but at the threat. Why Minerva didn't start training her Gryffs about such things from day one of their first year was beyond him.

After about ten minutes, Severus noticed Draco getting a bit braver. He walked straighter, his shoulders back and when he spun to face a threat, his face had a determined set to it. Whether he was simply getting accustomed to the surroundings or if he was making a point to be braver than Longbottom was something Severus didn't know, but it didn't really matter.

He was pleased with his little Slytherin's progress and was utterly unsurprised by Longbottom's and Fang's behaviour.

He changed his mind when Draco once again lost his focus and decided that having fun at a Gryff's expense was more important than keeping his attention focused on the dark forest around him.

He saw how Draco's gaze darted over to Longbottom from time to time, the looks gradually getting more frequent. A tiny smirk curled the corners of his lips and his wand tip drifted lower to the ground.

He completely missed the rustle of a nearby pixie and Severus stunned it without Draco ever turning to face the threat.

Instead, Draco suddenly turned on Longbottom and grabbed him by the shoulders, letting out a terrified yelp.

Longbottom screamed, fell over and a shower of red sparks shot from his wand and exploded high above the canopy of the forest.

Draco erupted in laughter and doubled over while Longbottom stared around, pale and near hysterical, half of him knowing it had just been Draco being a moron but his body not allowing himself to truly believe that there was no threat.

Severus resisted the urge to stride over and throttle Draco. He didn't give a damn that Draco had scared the daylights out of Longbottom – the boy was much too soft as it was – but Draco had lost his focus and was making himself wide open for any attack, both with his lack of awareness and the noise he was making.

He was about to enervate the last pixie he had stunned, intending on throwing it at Draco's back and forcing the boy to learn what happened when he lost his focus in a dangerous environment, but the crashing of twigs announcing Hagrid's imminent arrival put those plans on hold.

Severus narrowed his eyes when he saw that Hagrid was alone. What was the moron thinking? He didn't know that Severus and Fawkes were tailing them. Potter and Granger could be getting killed at this very moment and Hagrid wouldn't know.

"_Bird_?"

"_It's alright. We're all fine. They're staying put and nothing is getting near them_."

Feeling slightly more at ease, Severus narrowed his eyes at Hagrid. He would be paying the half giant a visit after this was over.

Hagrid helped Longbottom up and snapped at Draco to shut his mouth and then demanded an explanation. Longbottom stammered through the events and Draco crossed his arms, the very picture of arrogance.

Hagrid berated Draco for scaring Longbottom and of course failed to reprimand him for the things he had really done wrong.

Then he herded the boys and Fang back through the forest towards the place he had left Potter and Granger.

Once they met up with the other two Gryffs – Severus still seething over Hagrid's idiocy even after seeing that both of them were alright – Hagrid changed the groups, as if that would change anything.

Severus narrowed his eyes even more when he heard Hagrid refer to Draco as an idiot and then murmur an apology to Potter about sticking him with Draco. How dare the moron call anybody else an idiot and how dare he so blatantly favour the damn Gryffs? As if saddling somebody with Draco was worse than saddling somebody with Longbottom.

Glaring at Hagrid's back, Severus set off after Potter, Draco and Fang. They quietly made their way through the forest for quite a while, following the trail of unicorn blood.

Severus frowned as he noticed the splashes of blood getting thicker and more frequent. They were definitely moving towards the injured creature.

"_Bird, I believe we're getting closer to the unicorn. When I send word, alert the headmaster of our location and get the elves to prepare what we'll need. I'll send Xira to guide their way to us_."

"_Understood_."

The boys started struggling as the path narrowed and the trees became thicker. Severus gently bent the trees with spells, allowing himself to easily pass through them, but he knew the boys would detect the magic if he gave them the same help.

Still irritated by Draco's thoughtless juvenile behaviour, Severus didn't mind watching the boy shoving through thick branches and climbing over tall moss covered roots.

He was the first to see the unicorn through the thick branches. The white glow from moonlight reflecting off the creature's hide made it unmistakable.

Potter was next to notice, squinting through the branches of the old oak into the clearing beyond it.

"Look – " Potter murmured, holding out his arm to stop Draco.

Severus cast a life sign detecting charm towards the unicorn, and it came back as a dark stream.

The unicorn was dead.


	41. Chapter 41

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 41

A/N: I'm sorry guys, but this is another short chapter. It seems like all of my profs have kept their biggest assignments hidden from us and unleashed them now with three weeks left until winter break! I've spent the past three days working nearly non-stop and there's still a big pile waiting for my attention. As a result, I can't promise I'll be updating next weekend, but I'll try. Have a wonderful week, and enjoy the rest of the forest fun!

'When a wizard goes over to the dark side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to 'em anymore.'

- 'Harry Potter' by J.K. Rowling

XXXXXX

He squinted through the darkness at the still figure. It only took him moments to recognize Gerone.

His legs were splayed awkwardly, as if he had stumbled and fallen despite his efforts to remain standing. Moonlight glinted off his gold horn and his eyes were closed.

He nearly looked peaceful, if it weren't for the deep cuts gouged into his sides and the silvery blood seeping into the dark forest floor below him.

"_Bird, we've found the unicorn. It's Gerone_."

"_Gerone?_ _Oh, dear. I'll alert Albus imm_ – "

"_He's dead_."

A short silence.

"_You're certain_?"

"_Yes_."

"_Any sign of the Dark Lord_?"

Severus was about to cast another life sign detecting charm around the clearing to check, when he heard a slithering sound from the other side of the clearing.

Raising his wand, he stared through the trees. He was pleased to note that both Potter and Draco did the same.

He frowned as he listened to the slithering. It didn't sound like a pixie rustling through the undergrowth and it didn't sound like something crunching its way over dry leaves and twigs. It sounded exactly like somebody's cloak dragging over the forest ground.

He knew that Hagrid, Granger and Longbottom were on the far side of the forest and that nobody else had any reason to be in the forest right now.

Except for one person.

Well, technically speaking, two people.

Just as he finished this thought, somebody came crawling into the clearing. The person was wearing a thick cloak and was slowly crawling along the ground, halting every few inches and looking close to falling over.

Severus stepped forward, ready to stun Quirrel before he noticed the boys and made a move towards them.

Quietly making his way around the staring boys and dog, he squinted through the branches and tried to line up a straight shot. He couldn't risk missing or only grazing him. Quirrel would fire back immediately, his magic fuelled by the Dark Lord's and Severus didn't want to risk having him hit one of the boys.

Quirrel had reached Gerone and lowered his face towards one of the gaping wounds in the dead unicorn's side.

Carefully taking aim, Severus was about to cast a stunner Quirrel's way, when Draco let out a scream loud enough to wake anything within fifty miles of them. Out of habit, Severus felt himself turning his wand on Draco and had to stop himself from stunning the boy.

Seconds later, Draco nearly ran right into him as he tore off, running in a random direction, Fang close on his heels.

Severus' first instinct was to run after Draco, but the sight of Potter and Quirrel stopped him.

"_Bird!_ _Bird_!"

"_What is it_?"

"_Trail Draco, now!_ _He took off through the forest. The idiot hasn't got a clue where he's going. Get him out of the woods and back into the dungeons_!"

"_I'm on my way_."

Severus pointed his wand back at Quirrel, who had raised his head at Draco's scream. His face was partially hidden beneath the cloak, but silver unicorn blood could be seen dripping down his chin.

He was about to stun the man when Potter suddenly let out a hoarse cry and stumbled backwards, his hands clutching his forehead.

Severus darted forward to leap between Potter and Quirrel, knowing that somehow, Quirrel was the one causing the boy pain.

He barely heard the galloping hooves behind him and for the second time in mere minutes was nearly run over, this time by Firenze.

The centaur came racing down the path and neatly leapt over Potter, who had collapsed to his knees, hands pressed to his forehead.

Firenze crashed through the last trees and headed straight into the clearing and charged at Quirrel.

Quirrel stumbled up and fled into the trees.

Firenze paused before pursuing him and turned back to Severus.

"I will take the boy back to safety. This dark creature's magic is no match for my own, Professor."

Nodding, Severus darted past Potter and raced after Quirrel, trusting Firenze to get Potter out of the forest.

Gasping for breath, he crashed through trees and bushes, frantically looking for Quirrel. The man had been wearing a dark cloak and was probably being fuelled by fear, but he couldn't have gotten that far.

Casting life sign detecting charms would be useless, since the charm couldn't differentiate between different species.

He stopped every few moments, straining to hear the branches cracking somewhere around him. As time wore on, he started throwing stunners through the trees around him, hoping to hit Quirrel more by chance than anything else.

Half an hour later, he reached the edge of the forest, out of breath, covered in twigs, leaves and dirt and nursing some impressive scratches on his arms and face.

He stumbled past the last set of trees just in time to see a figure darting into the side of the castle through one of the hidden side entrances.

Swearing in Elfish, he glared at the darkness surrounding him. Stunning Quirrel in the safety of the forest would have been an easy solution. There wouldn't have been any humans around except Severus for the Dark Lord to latch onto if he decided to transfer hosts, and if he decided to stay in Quirrel, he would have no idea who had stunned him.

Once in the castle, the chances of the Dark Lord transferring into a student and catching Severus as having been the one to stun him were much higher.

Damn it!

This entire evening was a complete bloody disaster.

Taking the disillusionment charm off himself, he strode towards Hagrid's hut where a small group of hysterical people were already gathered. Longbottom, Granger and Potter were huddled all together, looking pale and scared but unhurt. Fang had already fled into the hut and was hiding under the table.

Severus strode up to them, demanding to know where Hagrid was.

"He went to look at the unicorn, sir. It's—it's dead," Potter answered, looking quite shaken.

"Get into the castle, all of you."

Herding them before him, he followed them into the castle and to the Gryff dormitories. Waiting until they had slipped inside and the Fat Lady had swung shut behind them, he hurried down the stairs.

Fawkes told him that Hagrid was carrying Gerone's body back to his hut for safe keeping until tomorrow. After dinner tomorrow they would bury him in a grave beside Fana's. They would rest in the small cemetery in which Kibby and little Gracey Craven rested.

Fawkes also reported that Draco had safely reached the castle and hadn't stopped running until he had reached his bed and was currently quaking like a leaf under his covers, wand clutching against his chest.

Severus gave a slight sigh of relief. It had been a disaster of a night, but at least all the kids were safe and in one piece.

He wearily trudged down into his dungeons and went into the first year's boys dormitory.

Not bothering to turn any lights on, he leaned against the door frame and raised an eyebrow at Draco, who was staring at him with huge, terrified eyes.

Jerking his head towards the common room, Severus headed down the spiral staircase and sat back onto one of the couches.

Moments later, Draco came shuffling out of his room, dragging his pillow and blanket with him. Slowly moving down the stairs, he nearly tripped on his way to the couch.

Severus helped him arrange the pillow on his lap and Draco curled up beside him, his head resting on the pillow. Severus tucked the blanket around him and then lay back against the couch.

They were silent for a few minutes until Draco shifted.

"I did really bad out there tonight, didn't I?"

Severus sighed. "You weren't the epitome of braveness, Draco, but the circumstances were more extreme than I would have liked. I'm sorry about that."

"I tried being brave."

"I know you did. And you did very well for the most part. But that moment with Longbottom wasn't spectacular."

Draco frowned, thought it over and then sat up with a jerk. "You were watching us!"

"Of course I was, Draco! Do you seriously think I would leave the lot of you stumbling around in the dark with only that cowardly mess of a canine for protection?"

"I thought it was kind of a strange thing for you to do."

Severus rolled his eyes and lightly cuffed Draco over the head. "Idiot."

"Anyway, what was wrong with me scaring Longbottom a bit? He needs to toughen up a bit. Merlin, that Gryff is just a disaster."

"It's not your job to toughen up Gryffs, Draco. That's Professor McGonagall's job. However, my issue wasn't what you did to Longbottom, it was rather what you did to yourself."

Draco frowned as he leaned back against the couch, pulling his blanket-covered knees up and wrapping his arms around them. "Why? My wand was still out."

"But you weren't focused on your surroundings anymore. If you would have been attacked at that precise moment, you wouldn't have been able to defend yourself any better than if your wand were up your sleeve."

Draco made a face, knowing it was true. "This entire night was a disaster."

Severus sighed in complete agreement.

"We'll go back into the forest when you're a bit older and do some other exercises."

"Only if you're coming with me."

"Of course I am, idiotic child. And you won't be taking Gryffs with you for back up either."

"Can I take Pansy and Vince and Greg with me?"

"Why not Miss Bulstrode?"

Draco frowned. "Milli doesn't like me."

"So? The girl has enormous magical power for her age. If she learns to control it, she will make a formidable ally in any situation. Make her like you, Draco."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. But if she hexes me because she doesn't get why I'm suddenly being nice, it'll be your fault."

"If she manages to get you because you weren't quick enough to get out of the way, it'll be…"

Draco groaned. "My fault. Yeah, yeah."

They lapsed back into silence. "Professor?"

"Hmm?"

"What was that creature? The one drinking from the dead unicorn?"

"Somebody evil, Draco. Very evil."

"Was he the one who killed the unicorn?"

"Yes."

Draco's eyes widened, immediately understanding the gravity of the situation. "Do we know who he is?"

"Yes we do."

Draco waited a beat, but when Severus didn't elaborate, he changed directions. When his head of house had given out all the information he saw fit to share, that was all the information you were going to get.

"Are you going to stop him from hurting anyth-, anybody, else?"

"We're trying. But while we try, I am going to order you and all other Slytherins to stay out of that forest."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

"Good. Try to impress upon your housemates how serious this situation is."

"I will."

Draco slumped over and curled up with his head on Severus' lap again. Pulling his blanket up to his chin, he stared at the distant mantle where their two Cups stood gleaming in the dim candle light.

"Can he get into the castle?"

"He can't get into this common room, Draco. I won't let him."

Draco sighed softly, satisfied with that answer. Severus leaned his head against the back of the couch and waited until he felt Draco's breathing even out.

Then he gently picked him up and slowly carried him upstairs and put him back into his bed.

Shutting the door behind him, he went to the other dorms and started bed checks.

Once he was satisfied that all his Slytherins were accounted for and safely sleeping in their beds, he left his common room, changing the password before he left and leaving the Baron to stand guard at the door.

All of the ghosts had been told to keep guard over their own common room doorways and Gabby and Ruddy had joined in the nightly patrol and prowled through the corridors at random times of the night, keeping sharp eyes out for any wandering Defense professors. Minerva, Dumbledore, Filch and Severus all did corridor and dormitory checks while Hagrid and the centaurs and thestrals patrolled the forest. Fawkes discreetly started sleeping in Quirrel's room, keeping his magical signature hidden. The second the Dark Lord convinced Quirrel to go for another nighttime stroll, he would know and alert everybody else before Quirrel even finished slipping his shoes on.


	42. Chapter 42

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 42

Author's Notes: shamefully hides beneath her desk I know, I know! I've been a terrible, terrible writer lately. I don't have nearly as much time to write at the moment as I originally thought. My most sincere apologies. Anyway, you all ready to read about that race for that little Stone? But from different perspectives than you're used to? Yes? In that case, scroll on down and enjoy!

XXXXXX

Pulaski: 'He's a boy, not a sword.'

Picard: 'Who will one day become a man and, to extend the metaphor, will need a fine edge that won't dull at the first touch of resistance.'

(_Star Trek: TNG, 'Pen Pals'_)

XXXXXX

"You wanted to see me, Albus?"

Albus glanced up from the supply list he was signing. "Ahh, yes, Minerva. I need a favor."

She put her books onto his desk and gave him a firm nod. "Of course."

"If anybody is looking for me later on tonight, I need you to tell them that I'm at the ministry."

Minerva blinked. "And where will you be?"

"Right here."

She stared at him with that look on her face that she and Severus had perfected over the years. It was a look that plainly said, 'You're going senile but I have too much respect for you to call you on it.'

"Alright. Who do you need me to lie to?"

"Anybody who asks. You can handle any administrative issues that arise."

"And if there is an emergency?"

"I will be on hand at once."

"And if I don't have time to intercept somebody coming up here?"

"I will keep my office locked and the gargoyle will inform anybody asking about me that I have gone to the ministry until further notice."

She gave him a long look. "I assume you don't want me to ask the obvious question."

He smiled. "You may ask it of course, but I shall be forced to give you an untruthful answer."

She narrowed her eyes for a moment but then relaxed. "You will tell me when the time is right."

"Naturally. Thank you, Minerva."

"Just tell me this: Is it really necessary?"

"Oh, more than you could possibly imagine."

She gave a firm nod and stood, gathering her books up. "That's good enough for me."

Straightening her robes, she swept out of his office, locking it behind her.

Albus leaned back in his chair and glanced at Fawkes.

"_It's almost time, old friend."_

"_We're not certain he'll try for it tonight, Albus."_

"_True. But Tom is getting more impatient. I don't believe Quirrel will risk his master's wrath by pushing it off any further. You yourself said he was in bad shape last night."_

"_You're absolutely certain about this? Not about Quirrel but about the whole operation. Lily would have your head on a platter and Severus would—"_

"_Severus would have some very strong words for me, yes. Which is why we're not telling him about this until it's done. We need to do this, Fawkes. You and I both know that. Severus would know that too if he knew all the facts."_

Sighing, Fawkes settled back on his perch. This was going to be one heck of a long night.

XXXXXX

Minerva frowned as she caught sight of her three Gryffindors wandering the corridors during break. "What are you three doing inside?"

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore."

Minerva frowned at Hermione. She hated lying to her students, but she trusted Albus to know what he was doing.

"See Professor Dumbledore? Why?"

"It's sort of a secret."

Now this day was getting better and better. First Albus had something fishy going on and now her Gryffindors!

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

She started berating herself right after she'd said it. Flew? _Flew_? Why on earth would Albus fly to the ministry or anywhere else for that matter? She should have rehearsed her responses before leaving Albus' office.

She could hear Severus' voice in her head calling her an idiotic Gryff with no foresight. She hated to be agreeing with him. She refocused on the conversation after Harry's slightly hysterical cry of "He's _gone_?"

Drawing herself up to her full height, she decided to cut this conversation off before it could get any worse.

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time—"

"But this is important."

She struggled not to narrow her eyes at the first year. How dare he interrupt her and how dare he behave as if what he had to say was more important than the ministry?

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"

"Look, Professor – it's about the Philosopher's Stone."

The books she had been carrying fell out of her arms and she nearly fell over herself. How on earth did Potter know about the Stone?!

Whichever one of her colleagues had loose enough lips and the lack of common sense to not discuss such affairs in front of students would have hell to pay.

"How do you know – ?"

"Professor, I think – I know – that Sn – that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She stared at him, slowly putting the pieces together. Potter had reason to believe somebody would steal the Stone tonight and Albus asked her to pretend he would be at the ministry tonight. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow. I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor –"

There he went being argumentative again! For a first year such an attitude was really uncalled for.

"Potter, I know what I'm talking about. I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

Gathering up her fallen books, she turned and walked away from him before another terribly constructed lie would come out of her mouth.

She still couldn't believe she had said that Albus was flying to the ministry! _Flying_!

Brushing that thought aside, she started focusing on the puzzling situation that she had on hand.

Albus was up to something. She knew he was. Whatever it was, she trusted him to handle it properly.

But that didn't mean she wasn't going to have a stern discussion with him tomorrow and demand some answers!

XXXXXX

Pursing her lips, Gabby blew through them, enjoying the slightly rude sound that passed between them. Sticking a finger between her lips, she repeated the sound, rapidly moving her finger up and down.

She snorted with laughter at the sound that produced.

Realizing how loudly she was laughing, she quickly slapped her hands over her mouth to quell her laughter and stared around with wide eyes.

Being invisible was useless if she made so much noise! Master Severus would skin her alive if he knew she was deliberately compromising her position like this!

That thought quickly sobered her and she went back to diligently watching the empty corridor.

She heard the clink of Fluffy's chains as he shuffled around in the room behind her.

Lifting up one of her hands, she blew on it and watched as the image of a clock appeared on it. Seeing what time it was, she made a face and dropped her hand.

Two more hours until Rudy replaced her. Two hours!

She leaned back against the door behind her, resisting the urge to bang against it with her head or hands to pass the time.

She waited five more minutes until she was ready to pull her brains out from boredom. Then she pushed off the door and started walking in small circles, never going far from the door and always keeping her eyes and ears open.

Once she was tired of that direction, she spun around and went the other way.

Then she went back to leaning against the door.

After repeating her pattern five more times, she suddenly started realizing how tired she was.

Yawning, she blinked and stretched her eyes wide open. Her arms and legs felt like they had suddenly been filled with lead.

She found herself slowly sliding down the door, her eyes starting to slide shut. With a distressed whimper, she tried forcing her arms back up to hold her eyes open, but they refused to cooperate.

Her head lolled to the side and her eyes closed the rest of the way.

The last thought that crossed her mind was that Master Severus was going to feed her to Fluffy when she woke up.

XXXXXX

"_She's sleeping?"_

"_Soundly. I cast a silencing charm on her in case she starts to snore."_

"_She didn't see you?"_

"_I'll have you know that I've learned how to be discreet. I'm not new to this sneaking around business!"_

"_I never meant to imply you were, old friend."_

"_Lean over, Albus. I can't see the image in that tiny drawer!"_

Albus prodded the image in the shimmery liquid within the drawer of his desk and let the image of the third corridor rise upwards.

"_Better?"_

"_Perfect."_

XXXXXX

"So light a fire!"

"Yes – of course – but there's no wood!"

"Have you gone mad?! Are you a witch or not?"

"Oh, right."

Fawkes nearly fell off his perch, he was laughing so hard. Albus himself let out a snort and then cleared his throat, pretending it had been a cough.

"_When Severus puts two and two together and confronts us about this, we have to tell him this! He'll forgive us immediately."_

"_That's an excellent point, Fawkes."_

"_And did you notice that Harry kept his head quite well right then?"_

"_I did, I did."_

"_Even Severus would have been impressed. He would have been appalled by Hermione, but Harry would have impressed him right there."_

"_He's using his head so far."_

XXXXXX

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?"

"Probably. They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once… Well, there's nothing for it…I'll run."

"_The boy's showing some foresight, Albus! Did you see that?"_

"_I did, old friend. He assessed the situation, came up with possible scenarios and took precautions. All very good signs."_

"_He could have used some easy diagnostic charms on the keys though, to see if they have a dark charm on them or not."_

"_He doesn't know any diagnostic charms yet."_

"_I know, I'm just saying what Severus would say if he were here – oh, and look, he's putting two and two together. He should have seen the broomsticks as soon as he went in, though. He didn't assess the situation as thoroughly as I had hoped."_

"_Have I mentioned you've been spending a lot of time in the company of Slytherins in recent years?"_

"_No. Why? Does it show?"_

XXXXXX

"_Thank Merlin Ronald can play chess well."_

"_It's good to see Harry acknowledging others strengths and deferring to them."_

"_It's not something James would have done, is it?"_

"_Not likely. But they should have done more planning prior to jumping in and playing. See that? Ron will have to be taken if they hope to win. That could have been avoided if he'd played the – ."_

"_They are Gryffindors, Albus. The fact that Ronald is thinking while in the middle of things is impressive enough."_

"_Would you like me to cast a green dying charm on you?"_

Fawkes gave an indignant squawk. _"You leave my golden red alone! I've always appreciated common sense and foresight. It's not my fault that your wonderful house doesn't generally cherish or foster those qualities."_

His rant was interrupted by Albus' chuckle. _"Did you hear that?"_

"_What?"_

"_They still think Severus is the one who's after the Stone."_

Fawkes rolled his eyes. _"Speaking of who's after the Stone, check if Quirrel is getting anywhere with the mirror."_

Albus waved his hand over the image floating above the drawer and the image whirled in a swirl of colors before settling.

They saw Quirrel crouching before the mirror, clutching his turban and whispering to himself, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"_Well he's getting nowhere fast."_

"_There's no reason to be concerned. We both know that everything in Tom and Quirrel's characters are working against either of them getting the Stone."_

Smirking at the whispering man in the image, Fawkes settled back and watched the image return to the kids.

XXXXXX

"_Severus will be extremely irritated to know that she's nearly cracked that riddle in less than ten minutes."_

"_Hermione is an extremely intelligent person, Fawkes. So is Severus for that matter. Suffice it to say that if most other people were trying to work through that riddle, they'd be there for a long time."_

"_Tom must have solved it for Quirrel. There's no way the Quirrel is intelligent enough to do it himself."_

Albus shrugged. _"Most likely."_

"_Why on earth you didn't just use the mirror to guard the Stone is beyond me. If it's this ridiculously easy for Riddle to get through and three first years with barely any magical knowledge are getting through with barely any difficulty – "_

Fawkes turned and stared at Albus. He narrowed his eyes at the old wizard and started putting some pieces together.

"_You've planned this all year long, haven't you? You knew that none of those defenses would hinder Tom except for the mirror! Albus!"_

"_Oh, look. Hermione's solved it."_

"_You're trying to change the subject. There will be much more discussion on this, believe me!"_

"_Feel free to yell at me all you like later. I have to get ready to meet Ron and Hermione downstairs. Get ready now. You'll have to be ready to get down there on a moment's notice."_

Fawkes sighed and shook out his feathers and straightened on his perch, watching Harry swallow the potion and move towards the door.

Albus got up and put his traveling cloak on. _"Keep a close e – "_

Fawkes scowled but didn't take his eyes off Harry walking towards the fire.

"_I know, I know. I'll get in there when it's necessary but not before."_

"_We have to know what happens when Tom has direct interaction with – "_

"_I really did pay attention when you went over this the first five times, you know. Get moving already. Hermione probably already got Ronald up and they're probably heading back upstairs."_

Albus waved a hand at his window and it opened. Lightly leaping onto the window ledge, he gave the phoenix a firm nod before stepping off the ledge into thin air, gently drifting downwards.

In the image floating above the drawer, Harry closed his eyes and stepped through the black flames flickering across the doorway.

XXXXXX

"But why not?"

"Myrtle, we've been over this a hundred times! Peeves is allowed to live at Hogwarts as long as he doesn't cause anybody significant harm."

"Blowing up my toilet is causing me plenty of significant harm."

"Seeing how you're dead, it's pretty difficult to cause you significant harm."

"Oh, hah hah!"

"Thank you."

"After we finish checking the dormitories can you come and fix my toilet?"

"I already said I would, didn't – "

"Master Severus! Master Severus!"

Severus paused on his way up the stairs to the Gryff towers and glanced down to see a hysterical Gabby screeching up at him, her eyes huge.

It was a bit disturbing how normal these occurrences were getting.

"What is it?" He didn't bother reprimanding her for getting hysterical or for having left her post. Not being the type to do either, the situation had to be something very serious for her to have done both.

"Gabby was guarding important door in corridor when she get sleepy. And not just normal sleepy but magical sleepy. Very sudden. So Gabby fall asleep like that – "

She snapped her fingers.

"How long ago, Gabrielle?"

"Nearly an hour."

"Shit!" Spinning around, he started racing down the stairs and down corridors. Not bothering to wait for the staircases to orient themselves properly, he levitated himself from one floor down to the other and flew across corridors.

Landing in the third floor corridor, he pulled out his wand and disillusioned himself. Seeing that the hallway was empty, he quickly made his way towards the open door.

"_Bird!"_

"_Huh? Severus? Where are you?"_

"_Third floor corridor."_

"_What? Why?"_

"_Somebody cast a charm on Gabrielle while she was standing guard. Quirrel has gone to get the Stone. Get in that chamber and make sure he doesn't get it!"_

"_Uh…"_

"_Now is not the time for discussion, bird! Go!"_

"_Right. I'm on it. You…you just stay there."_

"_Stay here? Are you mad? The Dark Lord is in Quirrel's head in case you've forgotten! He's your match and you know it! If he overpowers you then there's nothing to keep him from that Stone!"_

Severus stepped into the room, immediately cast three strong stunners at Fluffy, who slumped over. Flicking his hand at the trap door, he leapt down it. He took the disillusionment charm off himself, wanting to conserve energy for a potentially very ugly duel waiting for him. He glanced up at Gabby who peered down at him from the opening.

"Stand guard and send somebody for the headmaster. If Fluffy starts stirring, stun him again. Strongly."

"Yes, Master Severus."

Feeling the Devil's Snare snaking around his ankles, he flicked some fireballs at it and quickly leapt off the pile and moved into the next room.

Holding up his hand, he quickly froze the keys buzzing around the room. Then he cast a diagnostic charm on them to see which one of them had been touched most recently.

After seeing one of them light up, he summoned it to himself and quickly unlocked the back door.

Stepping through into Minerva's room, he thought about playing his way across the board, but then decided that would waste too much time.

Ducking beneath the arms of the black pieces, he approached the white pieces. As the knights swung their lances at him and the pawns swung their arms, he levitated himself over them, spinning himself around and sent strong breaking curses at them.

For a moment, he felt like he was back in the Dark Manor, at dueling practice with Nagini and master watching from the sidelines.

The pieces shattered and Severus flattened himself against the ceiling and cast a shield around himself to protect him from the flying shards.

He landed and blasted the door out of the way. The troll on the other side was thankfully still unconscious – even though the smell of him was nearly enough to knock somebody out.

Then he was in his own room and he quickly grabbed the correct bottle and swallowed the contents.

Feeling ice flood his veins, he turned towards the doorway, ready to race through the black flames, when he heard somebody call his name from behind him.

"Severus! Stop! Severus!"

Spinning half around, Severus didn't stop his movement towards the door. "Headmaster, he's in there right now! He might already have the Stone!"

Albus hurried forward and grabbed his arm. "I know Tom's in there, Severus. Which is why you must not be! Think, my boy! If you keep that Stone from him, it will be a betrayal he will never forget! And if he possesses you, Merlin alone knows what damage he can force you to inflict on the world!"

"He—"

"No! You know this is the wiser plan of action! Go back upstairs and wait for me in my office. I will be by as soon as I have dealt with Tom and Quirrel."

Severus stared at him for a moment before he realized he was wasting time and gave him a nod.

"Fawkes should already be in there."

"Good. I will see you soon." Pulling out his wand, Albus squeezed Severus' arm and headed towards the black flames.

"Be careful, headmaster!"

"Always, my boy. Always." Without a backwards glance, Dumbledore passed right through the flames without having drunk anything.

Turning back around, Severus began to head back out of the chambers.

A dozen scenarios raced through his head, each worse than the other. Deciding that it wouldn't do to dwell on a situation he had no control over, he pushed it out of his mind.

Levitating himself out of the trap door, he saw a worried looking Gabby standing there, keeping a careful eye on Fluffy and the trap door.

"Master Severus! Oh Gabby so glad Master Severus alright! Headmaster said for Master Severus to please wait in Headmaster's office."

"I'm going there now. Get me if Fluffy becomes a problem. Other than that – "

"Gabby not leave post! Gabby knows!"

Giving the small elf a firm nod, Severus swept past her and went to wait in the headmaster's office.

While he was winding his way up the stairs, it occurred to him to wonder how on earth the headmaster was here when he was supposed to be spending the night in London to attend to some meetings at the ministry.


	43. Chapter 43

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 43

Author's Note: As always, blame school for the slowdown in fic production, not me…please? The reason this chapter makes any sense is due to the brilliance that is Darque Hart who always catches my gaping plot holes, spelling typos and grammatical messes.

Just a small heads up for everybody: I have realized that this part of the trilogy will be much, much longer than the other parts. I really don't want to make this part over 100 chapters, so I'm splitting it into 3 parts. Darque Hart and I are currently trying to come up with subtitles which we will use to distinguish the three 'Twinkling Dusks' that will make up the last part of the trilogy. I think I'll start on the second part once Harry's first year is over. I'll be adding a subtitle to this section and I will let you know what the next part is called when the time comes.

'Only fools have no fear.'

- Worf to Wesley, _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ 'Coming of Age'

XXXXXX

Knowing that he would go crazy sitting in the headmaster's office waiting for the school to either blow up or for the Dark Lord to be blasted out of it, Severus decided to finish doing bed checks. Ignoring the itch to race back to the corridor and help the headmaster, he headed for the Gryffindor common room.

This was how he discovered that a certain bushy haired witch was missing from the girl's first year dormitory and three boys, including Potter were absent from the first year boy's dorm.

His breath caught in his throat and he thought he'd have a stroke. Of course, those idiots would be out of bed on the night when the Dark Lord was skulking around and the two most powerful wizards in the world were possibly having a duel with each other!

"Fat Lady!"

The woman snorted and mumbled in her sleep but didn't wake. Severus scowled and flicked a stream of water at her.

She woke with a jerk and a yelp. "Professor! What is the meaning of this? How dare you?"

"Where the hell are the Gryffs that crawled past you? Where did they go?"

"What? I will have you know young man that no student has ever crept by – "

Clenching his jaw, he resisted the urge to set her portrait on fire. The woman's inattentiveness had made her an ideal guard for when Evans was trying to sneak past her, but when students lives were on the line, her inability to properly monitor the comings and goings of the Gryffindors was proving to be life threatening.

"You are a useless fat lump!"

"Profe – "

"Shut up or I will set fire to your portrait and make sure you are stuck in it while I do it! Your inattentiveness could have cost four Gryffindors their lives tonight!" He hissed.

Her eyes widened and she looked utterly shocked, but Severus realized he was wasting time yelling at her. He would deal with her tomorrow. Or rather, he would let the headmaster deal with her. He didn't trust himself not to carry through with his threat, especially if tonight ended badly.

"_Bird! Bird!"_

"_I'm a bit busy, Severus! Merlin, Tom can still throw a heck of curse! Thank goodness Harry's shielded!"_

"_Bird, Potter, Granger, Weasley and Longbottom are…"_ Wait a minute. _"What?"_

"_I'm trying to watch a duel here, Severus! Oh, Albus nearly got grazed that time! His reaction times aren't what they used to be. But Quirrel is starting to slow down so the odds are still in our favor."_

"_What the hell do you mean Potter is shielded?! Why is Potter there?"_

"_I…I can't tell you that right now. Ask me another question."_

"_Bird, I swear to Merlin I'll kill you over and over again if you don't get Potter out of there right now!"_

"_He's too badly wounded for me to apparate. Albus already asked me to apparate him to the infirmary but you know how risky it is to take somebody who is injured with me!"_

That was technically true. The elves and Fawkes could apparate throughout the school easily and they could take another being with them – someone who couldn't overpower the wards by themselves, but the fact that Potter was injured made it extremely risky.

Severus realized he was clutching the banister beside him, having no idea what to do. His feet wanted to race over to the corridor and put himself between Potter and the Dark Lord, which was where his place was. But, he also knew that Fawkes and the headmaster had things under control and he would do no good showing up there.

If the Dark Lord caught sight of him and possessed him or killed him, he wouldn't be able to keep Potter out of harms way.

"_Damn it!"_

"_It's alright, Severus! I'm pouring healing energy into the boy now. Albus is holding his own with Mister High and Mighty."_

That reminded him._"Is it just Potter there? Where the hell are the others?"_

"_Hermione and Ronald went back out through the trap door before you got there. I have no idea where they went off to but you must have nearly crossed paths with them."_

"_And Longbottom?"_

"_What about Neville?"_

"_He's not in bed either, bird!"_

"_He's not?"_

"_No, I'm just lying to aggravate you!"_

"_Well, he was never down here. Get the elves to start the routine search patterns."_

Severus momentarily thought to call Gabby, and then remembered that she was still guarding Fluffy.

"Gorgon!"

While he waited for his elf, the Fat Lady cleared her throat and spoke up. "Uhm, Professor? Might I be of any – "

Severus glared the portrait into silence. "You can keep your mouth shut and your eyes open. Other than that, don't continue making my life more difficult than it already is!"

Within seconds, his elf appeared before him, looking sleepy and his small white towel rumpled. Gorgon blinked a few times, forcing himself to wake up properly.

"Yes, young master?"

"Wake the elves in the kitchen and start your search patterns."

"Outside and inside?"

"Yes. Gabby is busy but Ruddy can do her part and get Hagrid to start searching the forest."

"Who we looking for?"

"Neville Longbottom."

His elf gave a firm nod, snapped his fingers and disapparated. Severus was about to head off for the Ravenclaw towers to ensure that nobody else was missing, when he remembered that he should check the entire Gryffindor tower before rushing off.

Grimacing at his lack of thorough thinking, he cast the Supersensory Charm spell into the common room.

The frozen image drifted back out to him – and revealed somebody lying flat on the ground before the couches.

Shoving the portrait open all the way, he leapt inside, drawing his wand. He had forgotten about the small set of stairs that lay below the portrait to make climbing in and out of it easier and had to flail his arms desperately to keep from falling flat on his face.

It occurred to him that he hadn't been in this common room in many, many years. He remembered he had come in to help Evans drag her things inside when she had come back to school early one summer.

Had that been their fifth year? Sixth? Fourth? He didn't remember.

Aside from that, Evans had always visited him. It was too dangerous for a Slytherin to openly wander into the Gryff common room.

Forcing his thoughts back to the present, he hurried between the couches, his wand drawn and eyes searching for the person he had seen in the picture.

He rounded the last couch and came upon a petrified Neville Longbottom, lying stiff and silent on the floor, his wide eyes staring at him with utter terror.

Quickly sending the counter-hex at the boy, Severus looked him over.

"Are you injured, Longbottom?"

Neville slowly pushed himself up, looking groggy and stiff from having lain on the floor for probably hours now. "No, sir. My head kind of hurts. I think I slammed it into the floor a bit hard when I went down."

Scowling, Severus snapped his fingers and a draught for Concussion Relief appeared in his hands. He tossed it to Neville, who fumbled and nearly dropped it.

"Drink that. All of it. Tomorrow you will go see Madame Pomfrey as soon as you are up. Before breakfast. Clear?"

Neville drank down the potion, making a face and then nodding. "Yes, sir."

Taking the empty vial back from the boy, Severus scowled at him. "Why were you on the floor, Longbottom?"

"Uhm, Hermione hexed me, sir."

That presented him with two unexpected facts of information and one utterly expected one.

The fact that Granger had been the one to hex him was surprising, as was the fact that Longbottom admitted to it so readily. Obviously, the boy had no idea where exactly his comrades had rushed off to; otherwise, he wouldn't have admitted to them having hexed him so quickly.

The fact that Granger had managed to hex Longbottom wasn't surprising in the least.

He noticed the boy didn't even have his wand out.

"And why was she successful, Longbottom?"

The boy shifted from one bare foot to the other, his pajama bottoms dragging on the carpet. "Uhm, I'm not sure, sir." Of course he wasn't.

"Because you weren't prepared, you didn't anticipate the hex and made no move to defend yourself! You don't even have your wand out, you useless idiot!"

Neville looked hurt and pressed his lips together, his eyes shimmering. If he started to bawl, Severus would hurl him through the window. If any of his Slytherins had made such an amateur mistake and not been able to identify those mistakes, they would have hurled themselves out of a window rather than face him.

Any first year Slytherin learned within the first week of school how to behave when the possible threat of a duel lay before them. This idiot didn't know the first thing about defending himself or anticipating others actions or using his head for anything.

What made it worse was that Severus could practically see Alice and Frank standing on either side of him – two strong and highly skilled Aurors who had managed to create this weak, idiotic lump of nothing.

He had expected some skills to come to the boy naturally, seeing who his parents had been, but this idiocy cemented his belief that the boy would never live up to what his parents had been.

"Get up to bed and stay out of my sight until the year is over, Longbottom! Now!"

Neville didn't have to be told twice and spun around, nearly tripping over his own feet and then the staircase as he started up them.

Severus glared after him, for the millionth time wondering why the hell Minerva didn't start preparing her Gryffs for life from the first moment they stepped foot into her house.

He was about to turn his back on the boy and head out to look for the others, when a slight tremor shook the castle and made him pause.

It was slight enough not to wake anybody up, but Severus had felt it. And from Neville's half stumble on the stairs and pause, he had felt it too.

"Uhm, sir? What was that?"

Severus stared at the floor and the ceiling, his mind working furiously. The tremor had been the result of an enormous amount of magical energy being released, of that he was certain. Whether it had been the result of a particularly strong curse being thrown, or due to the headmaster dying, or the Dark Lord having been torn from Quirrel's body was anybody's guess.

None of those scenarios made him feel comforted.

"_Bird! What was that? Do we need to evacuate the school? Is the headmaster alright? Is Potter_?"

"_Albus just ripped Tom from Quirrel's body, Severus! He's disappeared through the walls_!"

"_Shit! Stay with him, bird_!"

"_I'm trying but he's darn quick_!"

Severus felt rooted to the spot, knowing that running anywhere would be a waste. In his non-corporeal form, the Dark Lord could go through walls, people and most magical defenses.

He felt a sudden sharp sting in his mark and he hissed, grabbing his left forearm with his hand. The sting subsided to a pulsing, soft hum. Severus instantly knew why the mark was suddenly so pleased.

Master was searching for him, and was using his mark to do it.

Severus clutched his forearm, knowing that covering the mark with his hand was absolutely useless but having no idea what to do.

"Professor? Are you alright?"

The humming got louder in the back of his head, a pleased, cheery tune. He squeezed his eyes shut, nearly falling to his knees.

He had forgotten how intense the mark's own emotions could be.

"Professor?"

"Get into bed, Longbottom! Now! Get away from me! Quickly!" He snarled between clenched teeth, his mind working furiously.

He had to get himself out of the school somehow. He had to get himself away from the kids. The pleased pulsing in his arm grew stronger and he knew the Dark Lord was getting closer.

He glanced up and managed to see Neville still hesitating on the stairs. As soon as he was in control of Severus, the Dark Lord would kill anybody who had seen him taking possession of him. This meant that Longbottom only had a few more moments to live.

Desperate, Severus yanked his hand off his left forearm and used it to hurl a hex at Longbottom, shattering the railing below him.

"Get away!" he yelled.

Longbottom scrambled up the stairs, tripping over his own feet and his face white.

"_Bird! Bird, help me! Get me out of the castle! He's going to find me!"_

He heard a door slamming from somewhere far away – he desperately hoped that it had been the first year boy's dormitory door.

The pulsing grew stronger and the hum in his head was making his head throb. He felt himself hit the floor and cradled his left arm to himself.

"Stop, stop. Please, stop. Don't let him find me. Please don't let him find me," he whispered to the mark, knowing that it couldn't understand him, nor would it care if it did.

It was just thrilled that its master was looking for it.

He spent another moment desperately hoping that Fawkes would do the sensible thing and kill him as soon as he was possessed – when he was suddenly surrounded by a thick, crushing weight.

He opened his eyes – he didn't remember having closed them – and saw that the couch before him and the carpet below his knees was moving, the colors swirling and bleeding together as the whole scene morphed and twisted.

He started to feel sick and closed his eyes again, hunching over and waiting for the inevitable.

The crushing weight pressed in on him from all sides and he felt like he was floating, yet being crushed at the same time. Sparkling red lights erupted behind his eyelids and he had a moment to wonder what the hell they were….before everything stopped.

The crushing weight was gone, he felt the carpet below his knees again and when he slowly opened his eyes, he realized that the furniture in the room was standing motionless and looked the way it should.

Gasping for breath, he pushed himself up on shaky legs, still clutching his left arm to his chest.

"_It's alright, Severus. He's gone."_

He glanced up and saw Fawkes perched on the back of one of the couches.

"What – " he gasped out. " – on earth was that?"

Fawkes shrugged. "_I apologize about the discomfort but I had to act quickly_."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"_I pulled you out of phase_."

"I beg your pardon?"

"_I pulled you out of this reality and momentarily kept you in the space between realities_."

Severus stared at the bird and slowly released his arm, rubbing at his forearm. He yanked his sleeve up and saw the smooth, white skin of his arm staring back at him. He could still feel a faint residual energy from where the mark was embedded deep beneath his skin, but it felt just as faint as it had since the night the Dark Lord had vanished.

He didn't feel that faint twinge of pleased cheerfulness that the mark had felt due to being around Quirrel – and the Dark Lord – all year.

Master was gone. He didn't know where he'd gone or precisely how far, but he was far enough away for the mark not to detect him anymore.

He turned his attention back to the phoenix. "_You do know how illegal it is to phase_?"

Fawkes gave him a look. "_I'm quite aware, thank you. I had to act quickly and this wasn't a scenario that we had planned for or ever discussed. You should be grateful that I managed to think of anything at all_."

"_I am grateful, bird. I'm just commenting on the fact that it's very hypocritical for someone to break one of our world's most stringent rules regarding magical conduct and to throw a tantrum about being out and about in the middle of the night and underage drinking_."

"_I've learned that some situations require extreme measures. I'm still appalled by your and Lily's conduct from years ago, but desperate times call for desperate measures_."

"_Just tell me I'm back in phase_."

"_Completely. I knew Mister Dark and Evil would be able to detect you through any shields or protective charms I cast on you. He'd probably be able to get through them as well, no matter how hard I tried to prevent it. I decided not to run the risk of him getting through and then me being in no shape to get him out of you_."

"_Very Slytherin of you_."

"_I thought so. Anyway, I momentarily pulled you out of phase. Mister Scary Eyes hovered over where you used to be – or rather, where you were but just out of phase – for a moment or so but then got irritated or bored or confused and left_."

"_Do you think we should tell the headmaster_?"

"_We could leave some details out_."

"_Such as the phasing_?"

"_For example_."

"_Alright. Come up to his office with me. That's where I was supposed to be anyway_."

Fawkes flew over to his shoulder and settled on it. "_You did find Neville, didn't you_?"

"_Oh, yes. The idiot is now in his room_."

Striding out of the common room, Severus headed for Dumbledore's office. Along the way, he rehearsed their edited version of events with Fawkes, called for Gorgon to stop the search and get the elves back into bed, and demanded to know all the details of the duel the headmaster had fought with the Dark Lord.


	44. Chapter 44

Path of Twinkling Dusk

Chapter 44

Author's Note: Here's another chapter, folks! I'm sorry to say that this story has been abandoned and this is the last chapter. I had previously uploaded some additional chapters which listed future events in the story in a bullet-point summary style, but many folks told me that they didn't enjoy those chapters. Since the story isn't finished anyway, I decided to delete those chapters, so this is the end of the story. If you really want the bullet-point summary chapters, just message me or leave me your email in a review and I'll be happy to send them to you.

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable. And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button, girl. So cradle your head in your hands and breathe…just breathe.'

- 'Breathe' by Anna Nalick

XXXXXX

Severus strode around the next corner, Fawkes still sitting on his shoulder and merrily chattering away in his head. Severus had remarked that the phoenix should get his lazy arse into the air and start moving himself to Albus' office on his own, but Fawkes insisted that he was too tired to fly and talk at the same time.

"—_completely_ _missed him! I expected Mister High and Mighty to have much better control of Quirrel, but that curse missed Albus by about three meter_s!"

Severus chuckled. "_Quirrel has never been trained as a dueler, bird. There's only so much even the most skilled wizard can do in a body that isn't his own_."

"_I just expected more from him. He wasn't even aiming properly half the time. And Harry was a wide open target – well, he was shielded, but still! He didn't even come close to getting him that time_."

"_Are you actually complaining that Potter didn't get blasted into tiny pieces, bird_?"

"_No! I'm still remarking on Mister Wonderful's horrid aim_."

Severus snorted and changed the subject, wanting to stop thinking about the Dark Lord for now.

"_Why the hell did you say that you couldn't tell me why Potter was there anyway_?

"_When_?"

"_You know perfectly well when_."

"_Uhm_…"

"_The idiot was trying to play hero and get the Stone for himself, wasn't he? That's not a terribly complicated answer, bird_."

He fully expected the phoenix to agree and to launch into the discussion of Gryff stupidity, which he'd wanted to have all night.

But Fawkes shifted awkwardly on his shoulder and cleared his throat a few times.

Severus stopped.

"_Wasn't he_?"

"_Well…uhm, technically, yes. But uhm….things were a bit frowned, starting to get the hint that something else was going on. He'd had his hands full dealing with missing Gryffs and having the Dark Lord loose around the school so he hadn't really thought about what had occurred down in the obstacle course before he'd gotten there._

_"__Bird, how did the headmaster get back here from London so quickly_?"

_"__Hermione sent an owl_…"

_"__There is no way an owl could possibly fly that quickly_."

_"__He…uhm….Albus just….had a bad feeling_."

Severus turned his head and stared at the phoenix._ "__He had a bad feeling_?"

_"__Yes_."

_"__Bird, what the hell is going on_?"

_"__I don't know what_ – "

_"__Quit playing with me. You're lying through your beak and desperately trying to cover something and you're doing a miserable job of it_."

Fawkes stared back at him for a long moment until he sighed. _"__Let's get up to Albus' office. He'll explain everything_."

Finally! He continued walking towards the headmaster's office, walking slightly faster than before. He was damn curious about this whole thing now.

The headmaster hadn't been anywhere near London, of that he was sure. There was no way he could have been notified that anything was wrong in time. But why would the headmaster need to stay in his office and tell everybody that he was gone?

That was an easy question. The headmaster had wanted to be undisturbed in his office for a certain period of time – a period of time which happened to coincide with the exact same period during which the Gryffs were chasing after Quirrel.

That wasn't a coincidence.

He jogged up the spiraling staircase and knocked on the door. He really just wanted to barge in, but he had never entered the headmaster's office without permission and the thought of doing so just struck him as being very wrong.

He barely waited for the 'come in' before he was throwing open the door and marching in.

He opened his mouth, ready to demand an explanation, when he noticed the headmaster was sitting on his couch.

"Headmaster?"

Albus turned his head and smiled at him. "Ah, there you are, my boy."

"Why are you on the couch? Are you alright? Fawkes didn't tell me you had been hit!"

Severus was already hurrying towards him, eyes scanning the old man head to toe, looking for any burns or blood or deformities. He didn't see any, but the headmaster looked awfully pale and exhausted.

Dumbledore lifted up a hand and waved it dismissively. "No, no. I'm fine. Just a bit tired. These old bones aren't used to such strenuous exercise anymore."

Severus reached him and cast a few medical diagnostic charms on him, frowning at the resulting strands of color floating before him.

"Gorgon!"

Within the blink of an eye, his elf appeared before him. Severus didn't even have to open his mouth. His elf quickly scanned the headmaster and the floating strands drifting around him, frowned and poked at some of them before disappearing.

He was back moments later and handed Dumbledore a vial filled with purple liquid. "Here, Headmaster! Drink this down. It tasting little bitter, but will get strength back quickly."

"Thank you, Gorgon." The headmaster quickly swallowed the potion and made faces at the bitterness. Severus ignored the faces and cast more diagnostic charms over him, frowning at the resulting strands with his elf.

"Hmm, that yellow needing to be bit brighter, but it already better. Maybe give Headmaster another before he going to bed?"

"I agree. Is that blue the right shade?"

"Which blue?"

"That one."

"Oh, yes. It that other blue – that one – yes, that blue should be bit darker. Second dose help with that blue too."

"Very well. Go back to bed, elf. I promise I'll try not to wake you again. Sleep in tomorrow, alright? I'll have Gabby bring you breakfast in bed."

Gorgon's eyes widened. "Breakfast in bed? That not done, young master!"

"It is if you're a million years old like you are and if you've been woken up twice in the dead of night to apparate all over the place. You'll stay in bed and eat breakfast voluntarily or I'll make you. Either way, you're taking it easy tomorrow morning."

"Who help get stragglers out of bed for Quidditch?"

"Gabby will do the fireworks and stay behind to get the team out onto the pitch. You just sleep."

Grumbling in elfish about such things just not being done, Gorgon disapparated.

Satisfied that his elf was finally going to get his rest, Severus spun his usual chair around and sat down, facing the headmaster.

"So," Severus said, crossing his arms. "We've all had quite the interesting evening – "

Dumbledore frowned and suddenly sat up. "Did Tom detect you when he was loose?"

Severus didn't hesitate before answering. "Yes." The few times he'd ever lied to the old man had led to disaster and he was determined never to do it again unless absolutely necessary.

Seeing the shocked and worried look on the headmaster's face, Severus held up a hand. "It's alright, Headmaster. He found me but Fawkes protected me. He never touched me."

Which was technically true.

Albus glanced at Fawkes and Severus could tell he was having a quick mental chat with the phoenix to confirm the story. After Fawkes no doubt told him the exact same story with the same lack of details, the headmaster frowned at both of them but sat back.

"Very well. I have no idea how the two of you did it, but as long as you're both safe, it's good enough for me. You even managed to leave the school standing." The headmaster chuckled and adjusted one of the pillows behind him.

Severus continued staring at him until the old man noticed and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Whatever you're dying to say, please just say it, dear. We both need to get some sleep tonight."

"Why did you pretend you were at the ministry when you were here all along?"

Dumbledore smiled. "You know the answer to that."

"I know part of the answer. You obviously wished to be undisturbed for a few hours. What I don't understand is why."

The headmaster exchanged a long look with Fawkes. Severus glared at both of them. "Get on with it already, headmaster! I want to know why the hell Potter was down there at all if you were sitting right here the whole time. I can't believe you would deliberately put the brat into such danger!"

Albus sighed deeply and gave Fawkes a nod. "So, it's time." He glanced at Severus.

"The answer is quite complicated, Severus. Please allow me to explain fully before raking me over hot coals. It's absolutely essential you understand everything. First, please fetch me my pensieve."

Severus pushed himself up, went to the small closet, and pulled out the stone basin. Waving one of the small side tables covered in strange gimmicks closer to the couch, he set the pensieve down onto it and went to sit back on his chair.

Albus pulled his wand out of his pocket and placed the tip to his temple. He slowly withdrew a long strand of silvery thought and placed it into the pensieve. He prodded the substance with his wand and the three of them watched Sibyll Trelawney's ghostly figure rise from the bowl and start to speak. From the hoarse quality of her voice, Severus could tell that the Seer was in a vision trance.

_"__The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…"_

The headmaster twirled his wand above the figure and silenced her.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I'm quite familiar with the prophecy, headmaster, as you well know. Those rubbish words cost my best friend her life."

The headmaster gazed at him sadly. "Ahh, but do you remember that day when we discussed what Tom was preparing to do about the prophecy? I'm afraid I had a rather peculiar expression on my face…"

Severus sat up with a jerk. "And I realized that there must have been more to the prophecy. A portion which the Dark Lord didn't know about." He stared at the headmaster with wide eyes.

"That last portion had something vitally important in it, didn't it? Otherwise you wouldn't have brought it up. You also wouldn't have looked so relieved that day when you discovered that the Dark Lord only knew the beginning portion."

Albus smiled, pleased that he was catching up. "Yes. The prophecy presented an enormous risk to Tom, but I'm afraid that the war would have taken a very different turn if he had known the rest."

Severus frowned. "You mean he would have proceeded in a different manner?"

"Oh, absolutely. It would have been foolish not to."

"And this last part of the prophecy has something to do with why you deliberately put a first year boy directly into the path of the Dark Lord?"

"Oh, yes."

As the headmaster reached towards Sybill's figure again with his wand, Severus sat up with alarm.

"Headmaster, stop! You can't possibly mean to show me the rest of it! We both know what an enormous security risk it would be! I thought we had discussed this when we started dealing with this mess."

"We had discussed it and I have had quite a few years to reconsider."

"Reconsider what? The very wise action of not telling me something which the Dark Lord would very much appreciate knowing? We both know that I will have to return to his service when he returns, and you can be sure that he will spend long hours digging around in my mind and looking at what I've spent all these years doing. If he even gets the slightest hint that there is more to that prophecy than he is aware of, he will stop at nothing to get it out of my head."

Albus gave him a patient smile. "Which is why you can simply ensure you don't have it in your head when you go see him. You can remind an elf to get the memory from you when you leave and to return it to you. You can swear the elf to secrecy and make the elf swear never to relinquish possession of that vial to anybody except you. We both know that there are ways around this security risk."

"Why are you so adamant about this? Why must I know this? It's been 12 years since the bloody thing was made."

"This is precisely why it's more imperative than ever for me to tell you! Do you not think it is a greater risk to have only two living beings on this earth know the full contents of it? Fawkes cannot communicate directly with anybody asides from the two of us, and I am not getting any younger. The more time goes by before Tom comes back, the higher the chance that I might not live long enough to see this through to the end."

Severus scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, headmaster. You could easily have over a hundred years left. Besides, when it comes down to that, I happen to know that a basilisk can give you over 700 more. I think I even remember the steps required in the ritual. I'm sure Lady Agaria would be willing to part with another basilisk for the right price – "

Dumbledore smiled. "I wouldn't want to live as half man and half dark creature anyway. Besides, 700 more years sounds a bit tiresome to me, even if there wouldn't be a horrendous price attached to them. When my time comes, my time will come. That is why this is essential, Severus! There is nobody in this world I trust more with this information than you. You are the only one who I trust to keep this secret safe and to see it through properly." Albus leaned back. "Besides, if Lily were here, she would agree that you should know the rest of it. If you're going to protect her son properly, it's vital that you know what he will have to face."

Severus sighed. It was still a horrendous risk, but the headmaster was right. They could keep the prophecy safe if they were careful enough. On a personal level, Severus wanted nothing more to do with this damn prophecy. The rubbish had cost his best friend her life already. He didn't want to know what other rubbish was waiting further down the road.

But he knew that if Lily were here, she would want him to know. If it was vital to her son's survival, Severus needed to know. Whether he wanted to or not.

"Fine. Let's hear it."

Dumbledore leaned forward and gently prodded Sybill. She opened her mouth and for the first time in 12 years, the words of the prophecy were spoken in full.

_"__The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"_

Severus frowned and leaned forward. He had only really started to listen half way through the last part so he motioned for the headmaster to run it through again.

After having listened to it three more times, he was certain he had memorized it and he leaned back, lost in thought.

Dumbledore carefully placed the memory back into his head and Severus got up and put the pensieve away, not really aware of what he was doing. His mind was racing around, trying to put the pieces of a very large, very complex puzzle together.

When he returned to his chair, he stared at the headmaster. "Do you mean to tell me that it implies that the Dark Lord somehow ended up sharing his powers with the boy?"

"It depends on how you interpret it, doesn't it? Marking Harry as his equal could mean in a magical or an intellectual sense."

Severus snorted. Both weren't likely. "And what of this power that the Dark Lord doesn't know about? What power could Potter possibly have?"

"I haven't the faintest idea, my boy."

More pieces fell into place. "You were testing the boy tonight, weren't you? You wanted to see what he's capable of. And…and you knew the Dark Lord would be there. You wanted to see what happened when they were in direct contact! You wanted to see if you could find out how he marked him as his equal and what this power might be."

Albus smiled. "Very good."

Severus was most definitely not smiling. "You put a first year boy into such immense danger simply for the sake of gathering information?"

"Calm yourself, Severus. I was watching him the whole time and was ready to send Fawkes to intervene at the slightest hint of trouble. Indeed, we both did intercede."

"The boy was wounded!"

Dumbledore's face fell. "He was magically exhausted, yes. I feel terrible about it and I would have never forgiven myself if Harry had died. I simply had no idea that being in direct contact with Tom would result in what happened!"

His curiosity momentarily overrode his horror. "Why? What happened?"

"When Quirrel – well, Tom – tried to touch Harry, Harry's magic repelled him very strongly. Quirrel was burnt quite badly."

"Literally burnt?"

"Yes."

"Very interesting. Do you think it has anything to do with Evans' sacrifice?"

"Oh, I made sure of it. There is an old blood protection charm that I placed on Harry before I brought him to his aunt's. Lily spilt her blood to protect him, and I sealed that protection into his own blood, which is partially hers. Her protection is still in his blood and if he is threatened by the one who was the cause of the initial threat, his magic will detect it and defend him, strongly. I'm afraid the exertion from it took a heavy toll on him, but it kept Tom away from him."

"Evans got the last laugh again."

"Oh, she certainly did."

"Do you believe this is the power which the Dark Lord didn't know about?"

"I have no idea. It could be. Tom knows about it now, that's certain. And you can bet that the next time he sees Harry, he will have a plan for getting around it."

"At least he won't have an easy time getting to the boy as long as he is in the castle."

"And at home, Petunia's blood keeps him safe. She shares blood with Lily so I could extend the protection charm to include Petunia."

Severus momentarily narrowed his eyes at the mention of Evans' sister. She hadn't spoken of her often, but Severus hadn't liked the little he had heard. They had been close before Evans had gotten her letter from Hogwarts. Then her sister had decided Evans was a freak and wanted nothing more to do with her. Severus had always been able to tell that it still weighed heavily on Evans whenever she had cause to bring the subject up. It was why Severus had never needed to have his arm twisted to help hide jinxed objects in Evans' suitcase before she went back home, and spent long hours helping her come up with practical jokes to play on her sister.

Now Petunia had joined him in keeping Potter safe for the rest of their lives. He found that terribly ironic.

The two people who probably despised Potter the most were the ones who carried the biggest responsibility concerning his safety. Damn Evans.

"Don't be hard on her, Severus. She might not have liked Lily or particularly care for Harry, but she did take him in, and she has let him stay in her home for the past ten years."

Deciding to forget about Petunia for the time being, Severus focused on the more important matter.

"So what you mean to say is that the boy was in terrible danger and we still learned next to nothing?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. We have no idea how powerful Harry may be due to Tom having marked him as his equal in some way. We also don't know what powers Harry has that Tom doesn't know about. If it was the love protection, then Tom knows about it now and we have to make alternate plans for keeping Harry safe."

"If he manages to overcome the boy's own blood protection, will it also effect Petunia's protection of the boy?"

"No. Petunia's blood will keep him safe in their home until the day he turns seventeen."

Severus nodded. This hadn't been the evening of good news, but this was definitely a little nugget. Then he refocused on his previous question.

"So aside from guess work, what has putting Potter into danger actually accomplished?"

"I was testing the boy. It was under controlled conditions and I had tried to anticipate all possible outcomes. I will be first to admit that I forgot about the blood protection charm I put on Harry and how it would effect his direct interaction with Tom, but it was a good reminder to see that it was very effective, and I did manage to save the boy."

Severus narrowed his eyes, but he had to agree. "At least you reacted quickly enough when the time came."

"So Salazar would forgive my one blunder?"

Severus glared at the man trying to make light of the situation. "You nearly cost the boy his life because you forgot an essential detail. It's happened to everyone, but I trust you will remember such important details from now on. It is not like you, headmaster."

Albus nodded and sighed. "It is another reason why I wanted to share this with you. I am getting older and my mind isn't quite as sharp as it once was. I need you to catch these small blunders of mine before they cause irreparable damage. We were lucky this time."

Severus nodded, firmly agreeing with that. "Of course, two heads are always better than one."

_"__Uhm, excuse me, but we technically have three_."

Severus rolled his eyes in Fawkes' direction. "Of course, how could I forget? In fact, would you like to be counted as two heads bird? Yours is so swollen some days that it might as well count as double."

Fawkes glared at him and Severus held up a hand to forestall any arguments. "Besides, if your head was part of this plan then you forgot about a vital detail as well. I expect better from you, bird."

Fawkes transferred his glare to the floor and stayed silent.

Then Severus turned back to the headmaster. "You still haven't answered my question as to why you were testing the boy. You could have easily helped him through the obstacle course without him being aware of it."

Dumbledore stared at Severus for a long moment until Severus started shifting around; not liking the thought that he was forgetting something very important and obvious.

"Do you remember the last part of the prophecy?"

"Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives," Severus recited from memory, and then paused, running the words through his mind.

Oh, Merlin! "Do you mean to tell me that the boy will need to be the one to kill the Dark Lord? That's absolutely ludicrous! The boy hasn't the intellect, nor the training, nor the ability."

"In all fairness, we don't know that he doesn't have the ability. From what we've seen this year, I would say that he is quite a powerful wizard. He doesn't have the knowledge, experience or training to fully use his power, but I believe the boy has great potential."

Severus stared at him. "Why are you discussing this as if it will actually happen? There is no way that the boy has even the slightest chance. The Dark Lord is very nearly your own match! There is no other wizard on this earth who even comes close. We will find another way of getting rid of him when the time comes. There are dozens of ways we can get rid of him without having him duel an eleven year old Gryff!"

"Ahh, but you are forgetting an essential detail. We both know that in all prophecies, if all parties decide to go against the words spoken in it, the prophecy won't come to pass. However, Tom didn't let it go the first time he heard it. We both know that Lily and all those other people would still be alive if Tom had simply chosen to ignore the prophecy."

Severus nodded. He remembered having the same conversation with Evans many years ago. She had scoffed at the idea of a prophecy, saying that if she decided not to take it seriously, nothing would happen. It had taken some arguing to convince her that even if she decided to not take it seriously, the Dark Lord would, which meant that in order to stay alive, she would have to as well.

Well, that had turned out well, hadn't it?

But the same applied here. If the Dark Lord knew the full prophecy, he would not rest until he had finished the boy off. Knowing him, he would want to do it in a grandiose fashion. He would probably want to have a proper duel with the boy with every Death Eater in attendance.

Which meant that if Potter wished to survive, he would have to take the prophecy seriously as well.

But they did have a huge advantage on their side still.

"The Dark Lord doesn't know about the full prophecy though. He has no idea that Potter might try to kill him one day."

"But he knows that Harry is the one who will vanquish him."

"He might interpret that to mean that Harry will be responsible for tearing him from his physical body, which he has already done. Maybe the Dark Lord believes the prophecy has already been fulfilled."

"Technically, it wasn't Harry who tore him from his body over ten years ago. It was Lily."

Severus sighed. "So it's all a matter of how a mad man interpreted those damn words."

"Yes. But in the interest of everybody's safety, not to mention our world's protection, we must go forward with the assumption – "

"That he still views Potter as a threat."

Severus sighed, finally understanding the headmaster's actions that day. "You wish to start training the boy to prepare him, just in case."

"Precisely."

"You made us build that entire damn obstacle course knowing that the Dark Lord could easily get through it. You just wanted to see how Potter handled it."

Albus shrugged, not looking a bit sheepish. "Yes. And the boy did extremely well."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "I'd like to see how he did."

"Of course. I saved a recording of it in my cupboard. Feel free to look at it whenever you wish."

Sighing, Severus narrowed his eyes at the floor. "I hate to say it, but if the boy were in my house, he would already have started developing rudimentary dueling skills and essential magical skills. Minerva does her house a great disservice by assuming that what they learn in class is enough."

Albus nodded. "I do admit that sometimes I wish I could put the boy into your house, but knowing that you both wouldn't do well in that situation, things will have to stay as they are. We will continue to do our best to train Harry from the sidelines and build his strength and knowledge. When the time comes, I will ask you to start formally training him."

Severus wrinkled his nose but nodded. "Of course. It'll be the only way the brat will live to see this through. Not to mention, it'll be the only way we'll ever be rid of the Dark Lord permanently."

"Which is the last reason and perhaps most important that I am telling you all this now. When the time comes, it won't be me that Tom needs to be most worried about. It'll be you and Harry."

Severus stared at him and Albus smiled and leaned forward, petting his knee. "And that, my dear boy, is our greatest secret."

Severus felt a rueful smile on his face. "I can say with absolute certainty that the Dark Lord will never see that one coming."

"No. This is why it always has been and always will be our greatest secret."

Sighing, Severus pushed himself up. What a night. Potter was now not only a thorn in his side who he had to protect to keep his promise to Evans, but he was now their world's only hope whom he had to protect to keep their world safe.

Great.

And all this because an unemployed Seer spoke some words which a mad man decided to take seriously.

"Before you go, Severus, Harry will have some questions about this entire year. He has probably already figured out that it was Quirrel trying to get him off his broom during that Quidditch match and that you were trying to save him. What should I tell him?"

Severus stared at him with wide eyes. "Well, whatever you say, don't tell him it was because of Evans!"

"I know. That's why I'm asking you what I should tell him."

"Tell him….tell him I….I was repaying Potter's debt! Yes, that's a good one."

Dumbledore looked bewildered. "What debt? You don't owe Harry anything."

"Not that Potter! The other one. The life debt I owed him when he pulled me out of the Whomping Willow."

Dumbledore blinked a few times and they both knew they were remembering what tremendous problems that night had created. Severus continued on, hoping to keep the headmaster from falling into his old feelings of regret and guilt over that night.

"Tell Potter that it was my way of repaying the moron whose genetic matter unfortunately resides in him. He'll never know that I repaid that debt a dozen times over during the war. Let him think I wanted to be rid of the debt and go back to despising the moron in peace."

Dumbledore gave him a long look and Severus scowled. "Just….just tell him that. I don't care. This isn't about Potter senior. He has nothing to do with anything and I don't want him occupying my thoughts any longer. And on that note, I'm going to bed. I have quidditch practice in less than 3 hours, not to mention that another bed check is due."

Albus nodded and pushed himself up. "I should turn in as well. Have a good night."

"You as well, headmaster. I will go down and grab a vial and ask Fawkes to bring it back up for you. You will drink all of it before going to sleep."

"Of course."

Holding out his arm for Fawkes to fly onto, Severus reached out and helped the headmaster to his feet. He guided him to his bedroom and helped him sit onto his bed.

Then he gave him a firm nod and walked out of his office to get the vial.

As he went, he deliberately pushed thoughts of the prophecy out of his mind. There was a tremendous amount of planning they had to do before the Dark Lord came back and the entire situation had just been severely complicated.

But, as of this moment, Potter was safe and fast asleep in the infirmary, having no idea of the burden he would one day carry and the impossible task that lay before him.

A task that Severus would somehow have to help him with. He threw a glare out of a window as he strode past.

"I bet you're just laughing yourself sick right now, aren't you?" he muttered.

"Who on earth are you talking to?"

"Idiotic Gryffs who shirk their own responsibilities and throw them into other people's laps."

"But it's a responsibility you would never dream of neglecting."

"Not as long as I have breath left in my body."


End file.
